Festivals in the UK tend to insure themselves to the hilt against bad weather and have had, in the wake of the attacks on the Bataclan in Paris in 2015 and Manchester Arena in 2017, to add acts of terrorism to their policies. Coronavirus falls under what insurance companies term “communicable disease cover”, but almost no festival will have it.
“It is very rare,” says Steven Howell of Music Insurance Brokers. “The only people who tend to buy it are the ones that are concerned about things like foot and mouth or swine flu. I have some clients who buy it every year, but the majority don’t.”