EUR 3000 fine for promoters who breach mass events’ regulations in Malta

Four high-level festivals have been cancelled due to a spike of infections

According to a Legal Notice published by the Maltese government and carried by TVM, organisers of public activities who breach measures aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19 are liable to a fine of EUR 3 000 for each violation.

Every public mass event that is being organised must stick to a number of Regulations regarding capacity, attendance and social distancing:

• A distancing space of four square metres must be ensured for each person attending a mass event. This can be viewed as the event’s maximum capacity.
• Attendees may gather in groups of no more than ten persons and must stay two metres apart (from each other and members of other groups).
• Every organizer of a public mass event that exceeds the capacity of 100 attending persons must submit, to the Malta Tourism Authority, a prescribed form in which all risks are analyzed. The event will get the go-ahead only after the risk analysis form has been approved by the Tourism Authority.

Event organisers that fail to follow these obligations will be qualified as offenders, and if found guilty, may be fined EUR 3 000 for every regulation breached.

Festivals cancelled

Four festivals scheduled to take place in Malta in August: Escape 2 The Island, Rhythm + Waves, BPM Festival: Malta and Mi Casa Festival have been called off due to a rise in Covid-19 cases on the island, BBC reported meanwhile.

Festival organizers expressed “deep disappointment”, specifying that the decision not to go ahead had been made jointly with Malta Tourism Authority. Ticket holders will get a full refund.

With most clubs in Mallorca and Ibiza shuttered and festivals in the UK cancelled, Malta had high hopes of becoming Europe’s 2020 festival hotspot. Until last week the EU member state with a population of 450 000 had 701 confirmed coronavirus cases and nine deaths. But just a few days later the number of infected persons rose to 860, including 16 immigrants from the last batch of arrivals by sea.