With rising public concern over Austin’s current state of COVID-19 transmission, Austin City Limits has announced that it will be requiring a negative COVID-19 test be shown at the door, with proof of vaccination being a welcome substitute. Ever since Gov. Greg Abbott publicly renounced mandatory vaccinations, ACL’s decision to require a test in lieu of vaccination acts as a legal loophole.

ACL is run by a company called C3 Presents, which is primarily owned by an even bigger corporation called Live Nation Entertainment. Live Nation gets the final say when it comes to tough corporate decisions, such as ACL’s decision to require vaccination cards or a negative test.

“Vaccines are going to be your ticket back to shows,” Live Nation Entertainment president Michael Rapino told NBC News.

ACL’s decision to require either a negative COVID-19 test or proof of vaccination has led some McCallum students to feel more comfortable about attending the festival. Senior Lila Plummer, who bought her tickets before ACL’s announcement of new regulations, said the regulations and the recent decrease in cases have put her at ease about attending the festival.

“I got [the tickets] before, but I had the idea that it wasn’t 100% that I would be able to go, especially with the Delta cases being so bad right when I bought them,” Plummer said. “But now with the precautions and cases seeming to get a little bit better, I do feel more comfortable and happy about that, because I worried I was gonna have to sell them.”

ACL organizers have also announced that they will be requiring masks in areas where it is difficult to socially distance. According to the ACL website, these areas include “festival shuttle buses, entrance lines, areas closest to the stages and in the limited indoor areas at the festival.”

Although Plummer was glad to hear ACL would try to regulate mask-wearing, she questioned how much the festival could actually enforce the rule.

“I don’t think they’re gonna be able to control it, realistically, as much as they say they are,” Plummer said. “It’s a bold statement to say that they’re requiring masks. I think it would be a little more realistic to say that they’re encouraging them. Because it’s just gonna make people upset if not everyone’s wearing a mask in the busy areas, which I guarantee they won’t.”

While some students feel reassured by the new ACL guidelines, others have opted to stay at home to avoid the risk. Junior Gabriel Sanders points out that the large crowds coupled with the likely drug and alcohol use at the festival could lead to a very unsafe COVID environment.

“A tightly packed crowd will certainly lead to COVID transmission,” Sanders said. “On top of that, people will be too inebriated to recognize proper safety guidelines.” Plummer agrees that the customary substance use at ACL may lead attendees to break COVID-19 safety protocols.

“I definitely think that there’s a lot of [drug and alcohol use] at ACL, and I think obviously that hinders your judgment,” Plummer said. “I don’t think that the first thing someone who’s participated in alcohol or drugs is gonna think about is, ‘Am I being safe, am I keeping others safe, am I wearing my mask?’ So I definitely think that’ll have an effect.”

Assistant principal Andy Baxa understands student concerns about festival attendees bringing COVID-19 back to campus, but believes it’s impossible to know the effects of ACL on COVID-19 community spread at Mac until the festival has ended. “It’s hard to say what effect it’s gonna have until the festival comes and goes, but anytime you have a large event like that, there’s a chance for a spread of COVID,” Baxa said. “Hopefully our students do what they need to do to take care of themselves and protect themselves, but we’ll have to cross that bridge when it gets here.”