Ever since COVID struck in 2020, people all over the world have been deprived of social interaction and a sense of community. So, when Austin City Limits got canceled last year, fans were crushed. Once the vaccine distribution began in January, however, ACL coordinators were confident that this year’s festival would return to normal. Due to recent spikes in Texas COVID cases, however, Austinites became concerned that the event would not be safe. The concern begs the question: should ACL happen at all under these COVID conditions?

Austin is currently sitting at a 60.8% vaccination rate, and only just recently dropped down into Stage 4. Until the spread of the virus wanes considerably, ACL cannot be safe or enjoyable. If more people are vaccinated and community spread is lower, the risk of getting the virus from a high-contact environment decreases and people can enjoy the festival without the stress of getting too close to others. If the event continues as planned, however, full-on lockdown could become a very possible reality.

Some may argue that since ACL is an outdoor event, the chances of contracting COVID are lower. The safety of being outdoors is undermined by the large population of the festival. Not only will people be in close proximity, but many of them are likely to be unvaccinated. While one can hope significantly more people get vaccinated in the near future, citizens 12 and older have been eligible since early May, and most people who want vaccination shots have gotten them. This means that most unvaccinated people have made the firm decision to remain unvaccinated.

What’s more troubling is the reality that many festival attendees will not be locals. Since many people travel from out of the state to see the live shows, there exists a greater risk of cross contamination and virus transmission. The new Delta variant brings even greater risk of large groups of people gathering and spreading the virus. According to the CDC, because the Delta variant is far more contagious than previous variants, fully vaccinated people can contract the virus through breakthrough infections.

Because of this variant, vaccination is no guarantee that festival attendees won’t contract or transmit the virus. They can very well carry the virus to the festival without even knowing it. This brings an even larger threat to public health.

Although Austin City Limits is beloved, it would be irresponsible to host the event in person in the current environment. Instead, the event should be hosted virtually, similar to the way it was carried out in 2020. Even though the full concert experience is impossible to replicate virtually, it is a much better alternative than risking the spread of COVID among such a huge crowd of people.