Festivals

[LadyCrow1313]

Every September, I usually go to a local Scottish Games. I was bummed that it was cancelled last year, but obviously understood why.

The group that hosts this made a recent announcement that it will be held this year. Depending on the weather, it can & usually gets quite crowded, but that's usually not an issue. As it's held at a fairground, there's more than enough room to walk around & see the sights. 

While this makes me happy, I'm finding myself to be reluctant to go. I know it's early yet (as tickets haven't gone on sale yet), but I may hold off for a year & go again next year instead. 

If covid restrictions are being lifted in your area, how do you feel about it? Are you good with going to outdoor festivals, etc at this time? 

[Alisamer]

1 hour ago, LadyCrow1313 said:

If covid restrictions are being lifted in your area, how do you feel about it? Are you good with going to outdoor festivals, etc at this time? 

I'm vaccinated, and for me, I would be good with going to an outdoor thing like that. I've been to a couple farmer's markets and other outdoor events lately, and felt fine with it. 

I'm at the point where I am just DONE with this mess, and as long as the vaccine is still proving effective, I'm ready to just get on with things. I'm hoping to go to the Ren Faire this fall, and would be willing to go to an outdoor concert (preferably lawn seating, though). I'd be OK with amusement parks now, also. I've started going back to the gym and don't wear a mask there (it's decently ventilated and everyone is distanced from one another). I do still wear a mask inside stores, however. 

So my comfort level for ME is that I'm OK with outdoor events, maskless, but would be uncomfortable (and would definitely wear a mask) in a crowded indoor situation. I'm not terribly high risk and I'm fully vaccinated.

A friend of mine is also fully vaccinated, but has lupus and is on immunosuppressants, so she is much more cautious. Another friend is fully vaccinated and healthy, but her two sons aren't fully vaccinated yet (I think the younger one isn't old enough yet) so she's being more cautious for them.

All that said, I also bought several new masks when my favorite kind went on clearance at Kohls, to have on hand in case things get worse again. 

I think here in the US we are at a point where it's become a personal choice thing. I have come to the point now where I feel like I've done my part, in being careful and getting vaccinated. So unless I'm in a group of known high risk people or around a ton of kids too young to get the vaccine, I'm basing my choices on myself and no one else.

It's harsh, but I feel by now all adults who want the vaccine will have (in my area) got it - they are now having to give incentives to try and encourage people to get the shots. If someone refused the vaccine and then goes around in a crowd and gets the virus, oh well. Sad for them, but it was their choice. I'm no longer willing to limit myself to save the stupid from themselves. I'll willingly limit myself to protect those who are high risk, can't get the vaccine for medical reasons, are too young to be vaccinated, etc. But people who chose not to? They made their choice, they can live (or die) with it. 

I know others may choose differently than me, and that is cool. Everyone has different levels of risk they are willing to take. I'm willing to accept the slight personal risk of Covid in exchange for being able to do things again, because it's becoming a mental health thing for me. 

[CTRLZero]

Being fully vaccinated, I’m up for all things outdoors at this point.  That said, if I was at an outdoor event that was crowded, I’d probably find a way to distance myself to the extent possible.  I liked having a way to occasionally walk clear of the crowds before the pandemic, so that’s just me.  
We are getting ready to travel through airports for the second time since getting vaccinated.  After that experience, outdoor get-togethers feel low on the stress meter. 

I hope you enjoy the Scottish Games if you do decide to go, @LadyCrow1313.

[ADoyle90815]

I'm fully vaccinated, so I'm fine with outdoor festivals at this point.

[FiveAcres]

So Tuesday I had my second screening mammogram since the pandemic started. The tech asked me if I was vaccinated (yes), when I was vaccinated (2nd dose of Pfizer on 4/2), and which arm. I was a bit stumped by the which arm question then decided I had been vaccinated in the right arm. I asked her why she was asking which arm and she said that they were seeing some cases of enlarged lymph nodes on the vaccinated side so they were asking that question. 

My shoulders get a bit cranky with some of the poses required for a mammogram, so I always warn the tech that I need additional warning before any rearrangement. She did an excellent job of not making the process any worse than it needs to be. So I hope I get my letter with negative results in ten days and can forget about it for another year. 

[tabitha2]

Just went to my first Food and Wine festival in Dallas at the Arboretum  in over a year! Lovely! They made a nod to social distancing by separating the vendors. 

[Sarcastically spinster]

I'm fully vaccinated.  Everybody high risk that I'm around has had the opportunity to get vaccinated by this point, which means their risk management is up to them and not my job to manage any more.  

My personal opinion is that at this point, barring special circumstances, evidence shows that vaccination reduces the risk to one that I consider to be acceptable life risk similar to the risk of getting in a car accident, other serious diseases, etc.  I'll definitely still be respectful of it if I'm around people who are being more cautious and would like additional precautions, and as a healthcare worker there are still precautions at work.  But otherwise, I'm happy to say that vaccination puts this in the "normal everyday" risk category, and so I'm content to go back to life basically as normal.  

Of course, there's a lot of considerations I don't have that others might.  I'm low risk anyway.  I don't live with anyone high risk.  I don't have kids who can't get vaccinated yet, etc.  I pretty much do just have myself to consider when assessing risk on that level.  

But we have to decide what level of risk we're OK with just accepting as a normal risk, just as we do with the risk of travel accidents, etc.  I'm there for myself, though I'll still be respectful of others if I'm around them and they aren't there yet, including taking extra precautions if needed.

[Black Aliss]

Two weeks ago there was a outdoor music festival at the Gorge Amphitheater in eastern Washington. As of five days ago there were over 160 cases of COVID traced back to that festival. Last night I live-streamed another concert held at that same venue. As the camera panned over the crowd it looked like maybe 1 in 200 people, standing shoulder to shoulder, screaming and singing, were wearing masks. I'm so glad the scalpers grabbed up all the tickets for that event last May, when I probably would have felt comfortable attending.

As a caregiver I really cannot afford to even just feel crummy for several days. It's N95 masks always when indoors and I'm thinking now even at the small outdoor music venues.

Edited August 15, 2021 by Black Aliss