Namimonogatari 2021 Music Festival exceeded maximum capacity and people didn’t wear masks, Tokiname City mayor and hip hop artist Zeebra posted on SNS with a response

In Japan, many music festivals are either canceling or going through with their music festivals with excessive rules to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

But for the August 29th music festival Namimonotagari 2021 in Tokoname City, Aichi Prefecture, the music festival had significant problems.

According to news reports, not only did the music festival exceed maximum capacity of 5,000 people, many did not wear masks.

Mayor Tatsuya Ito of Tokoname City posted on Twitter that the event was held at Tokoname Rinku Beach between August 2016 through 2019 and were very worried about this event. On August 26th, the even manager and organizer said they would comply with the requests and guidelines of the national and prefectural governments, the municipal hospitals and if there was a possibility, they would have emergency transportation to treat injuries and heatstroke. And also promoting that people should avoid contacts with others and return home promptly after the event.

However, the festival was overcrowded, far exceeding the maximum number of 5,000 people and not only was alcohol provided, but many people participated in the event without wearing masks.

The mayor expressed his regret and said the organizer who held the problematic event to ridicule the efforts of the citizens will never be able to use the city’s facility, Rinku Beach, ever again.

【訂正】議会での発言の中で「上限人数の5,000人」という箇所がありますが、私の認識が甘く、緊急事態宣言周知期間終了前に販売したチケットついてはキャンセル不要とのことでした。よって今回のイベントにおいて上限5,000人は適用されないとのことでした。訂正させていただきます。

— 伊藤たつや（常滑市長） (@tatsuya115) August 30, 2021

Hip hop artist Zeebra posted on Twitter, “I heard that yesterday’s NAMIMONOGATARI complied with the rules of the prefecture, so I appeared, but when it opened, it was a dangerous situation. While heading to the venue, I saw photos from the venue and immediately contact staff and told the moderator wear a mask. My office staff went around the venue while distributing antiseptic solution and called attention to it while on stage, but I think it is reasonable to say that I should not have appeared in the first place. I feel there was a great deal of concern and inconvenience to the people, and I feel responsible as a leader in the hip-hop scene. I’m really sorry”.

昨日のNAMIMONOGATARI、県のルールに則ってると聞いていたので出演しましたが、開けてみたら危険な状況でした。会場に向かう最中SNSで会場の写真を見て、すぐにスタッフに連絡をし、司会からマスクの着用を徹底させる様に伝えました。

— Zeebra (@zeebrathedaddy) August 30, 2021

The event organizers took to their website posting an apology and circumstances regarding what happened.

We apologize for the inconvenience and concern that the NAMIMONOGATARI 2021 that was helkd in the region and held all over the country, to all the people concerned, and all the people who have supported the music industry and the event industry. We deeply apologize for the inconvenience. I am terribly sorry.

Below, I will explain the process leading up to the event.

We announced the event in March of this year and were preparing for the event. As the preparations progressed, we heard from Aichi Prefecture that it was possible to hold the event this year.

From that day, Tokoname City was designated as an epidemic prevention priority treatment area, and the number limit was reduced to 5,000. At that time, the number of tickets sold exceeded 5,000, so we decided to stop selling tickets on August 20th and canceled the annual children’s project, following the instructions of Aichi Prefecture.

At the same time, I was instructed that I could enter the number of tickets sold at that time. At this point, we received a request to refrain from selling alcoholic beverages, but we reported to the person in charge of Aichi Prefecture that we would sell some items that could not be canceled. Alcohol tickets were already sold but we can manage the number of cups.

As measures to prevent infection inside the venue, we took measures within the range that can be done within the event venue, such as social distance stickers, prohibition of eating and drinking outside the area, and requesting that you wear a mask when not eating or drinking. After that, a state of emergency was issued to Aichi Prefecture the day before the event on August 27th. The day of the event was the next day, and it was the timing when all the preparations were completed. It was physically impossible to cancel or postpone the event at that timing.

One of the major measures that could be taken at that time was to stop selling tickets when the area became an epidemic prevention priority treatment area.

However, on the day of the event, more than 8,000 spectators attended, the social distance was not maintained, and it was always in a dense state. On the organizer side, an explanation of narrated alerts will be given during all the changes of artists, and the main large screen of the venue will be alerted.

①Please be sure to wear a mask inside the venue

② Please observe the social distancing between customers.

③ Please refrain from being loud while watching

④ Please do not speak when removing the mask for eating or drinking.

⑤ Please eat and drink in the designated area

⑥ If you feel sick, please do not hesitate to contact the staff.

⑦ Please replenish water diligently to prevent heat stroke.

The document was displayed and narrated to encourage customers to recognize it directly. There was also a 1 meter interval social distance sticker on the floor ground. We took seriously the situation that did not improve on the way, and encouraged that the event would be interrupted if the masks were not worn as a strong alert from the moderator, but as a result, for infection prevention measures for large-scale music events.

We deeply regret that the lack of recognition has caused a great deal of concern to everyone in Japan.

This time, after arriving at the venue, all the performers cooperated with the implementation of the antigen test, including the people concerned, and even though the dressing room was properly divided and they cooperated firmly in infection prevention measures. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused. We are very sorry for all the performers and all concerned.

The performers this time have nothing to do with the event production. We are responsible for all production companies. Thank you for your cooperation.

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