This bar just gave a big outdoor EDM concert in Florida. Was it a superspreader event?
Another day in the pandemic, another possible super-spreader event. And we’re not even talking about Thanksgiving get-togethers with the fam.
An EDM concert held last Friday night at a Jacksonville restaurant is causing concern among locals after videos of the packed crowds made their way to social media.
House music DJ Claude VonStroke headlined the performance on River City Brewing Company’s outdoor stage. The L.A. producer owns Dirtybird Records and has been a longtime fixture at Miami Music Week.
The Florida Times Union viewed videos posted by the concert’s promoters, I Love Florida House. There were other clips from the Worst Beer Blog lifestyle page, as well as snippets from on-site attendees, which showed people tightly squeezed together, with few masks.
“From a purely observational perspective, before testing and contact tracing have been conducted, given the dense population on the dance floor and the lack of masks, this has strong potential to be a super-spreader event,” Chau Kelly, an associate professor at the University of North Florida, told the media outlet after viewing footage.
The Florida Times Union posted a video screenshot of a reveler dancing around and twerking to the beat.
“Last night was a mood,” wrote a social media user with the handle @stompdynasty the day after. Behind her you can see patrons socializing and chatting closely without facial coverings, though servers have them on.
The invite touts VonStroke as the biggest DJ to hit Jacksonville in more than seven years.
Health and safety guidelines are clearly listed on the event’s Facebook page saying face masks were required upon entry, temperatures would be taken at the door and social distancing was “a must.”
River City Brewing Company General Manager Kristine Moore told the Florida Times Union that the concert was copacetic.
“We’re an open-air venue. For Christmas, we usually have 1,800 people outside. This was 400 people,” she said. “Anyone coming to the event wore a mask and got temped. The only time people went inside was to use the bathroom and they had to wear masks. We wouldn’t even let the bathroom fill up, we only had two people at a time.”
It is unclear if any of the guests tested positive for COVID-19 since last weekend. No cases had been reported as of Friday afternoon.
This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 4:01 PM.
