new survey commissioned by Music Venue Trust (MVT) among members of the Music Venues Alliance (MVA) has revealed the full extent to which Grassroots Music Venues in England are planning to re-open their doors from 17 May and beyond, based upon the timeline laid out by the government.

17 May signals the penultimate stage in the government’s roadmap to ease COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in the UK before a planned return to full capacity social activity on 21 June.

The survey reveals that over 2534 socially distanced shows are already on sale in 266 venues from 17 May to 21 June, with more than 4000 shows across over 400 venues predicted to take place during the month.

Mark Davyd, CEO, MVT said: “As we emerge from the darkness of the last year and move towards our plan to Revive Live it is incredibly exciting and heartening to see the positivity with which UK Grassroots Music Venues are approaching re-opening their doors. The fact that musicians can get back to work, music fans can start to enjoy a live music experience again and all the associated staff in the music venue eco-system can go back to earning a living again is amazing news. There are still challenges to overcome, and of course the whole of this programme relies on the government sticking to its roadmap to allow us to Reopen Every Venue Safely. Audience safety continues to be Grassroots Music Venues’ main priority, but this is hopefully the start of our much-anticipated road back to normality.”