Thousands dare Virus to jam at Mexico music festval

Mexico: While the coronavirus pandemic has led authorities around the globe to cancel concerts and sporting events, and even shut down daily activities in some places, Mexico City is going ahead with Vive Latino  one of the most important music festivals in the country.                                 

Some acts backed out, but tens of thousands of music fans flocked on saturday to the first day of the festival, which still expected Guns N’ Roses, Carlos Vives and Zoe to be among its headliners.

Organizers said more than 70,000 tickets had been sold for each of the festival’s two days.            

 Concerns about the new COVID-19 illness were evident, though. At the entrance, the usual security checks for such events had a new filter, each person entering was checked for fever and a strong smell of antibacterial gel permeated in the air.

But once past that, the dynamics of the festival were not much changed. People walked excitedly toward the various stages and crowded together for the performances.

But once past that, the dynamics of the festival were not much changed. People walked excitedly toward the various stages and crowded together for the performances.

Karina and Saúl, who did not give their last name, were at Vive Latino, but they were not convinced about the wisdom of doing so.

They said they came only because there were no refunds for the tickets that cost them 5,000 pesos ($228) for the two days of the festival. They tried to sell their tickets but weren’t offered enough.