Concerts and festivals are exciting annual events in major cities like Chicago and New York. They give citizens near and far experiences to be brought together all while making memories that will last a lifetime. Concerts, in particular, draw large crowds that enjoy the welcoming atmosphere of being surrounded by fans that share a similar taste in music. The summer of 2020 is nearing and causing little hope event-goers had to slowly disappear. 

Covid-19, the pandemic that has devastated countries all over the world, is the reason for events being at stake. From NBC Chicago, Governor J.B. Pritzker says, “Until we have a vaccine, which is months and months away, I would not risk having large groups of people getting together anywhere.” Pritzker has also made comments about his thoughts that Illinoisans should be prepared to see their favorite summer outings and festivals to be canceled. Chicago’s crowd-drawing events like the Taste of Chicago and Lollapalooza are very uncertain. Summer jobs and revenue created by such are now on the line. 

Only saying that summer events should be canceled is generous in comparison to other ideas going around. Zeke Emanuel, who is the director of the Healthcare Transformation Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, believes concerts among other gatherings with large crowds, like sporting events, may not be safe to resume until the fall of 2021. That is at the earliest. If people were to go back to normal living too early, Emanuel says, for Consequence of Sound, “The virus will definitely flare back to the worst levels.” Such is a risk that would be highly unreasonable to take, considering the huge amount of lives Covid-19 has affected so far.

Continuing with Emanuel’s thoughts, 2021 is reasonable due to the expected time a vaccine will take to make. A lot of experts believe a vaccine for Covid-19 may not completely exist for another 12-18 months, from Consequence of Sound. A vaccine could be around as early as a couple of months. For the Economist, Larry Brilliant, an epidemiologist who helped eradicate smallpox, says, “Then it will be the arduous process of making sure that it is effective enough and that it is not harmful. And then we have to produce it.” 

For avid concert-goers and event-lovers, the summer of 2020 could be disappointing. It is better staying home safe than being out spreading germs or coming into contact with them. There will be more events to look forward to eventually, and it will be exciting to witness the fun when things go back to “normal.”