Return of live events post Covid crisis still in question

Since the Covid-19 pandemic shut down public gatherings for live events such as concerts and sports in March 2020, the question everyone has been asking is when things will return to normal.
The time frame for the reopening of the economy in the U.S. keeps getting pushed back. It had been expected this summer but now it looks like this fall, given the slow rollout of vaccines.
Looking at concert venues in Northern Virginia and D.C., the earliest live performances are planned for late July and August for now.
The Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Vienna, Va., canceled its 2020 summer performance season. And this year’s season looks to start in August with concerts by Goo Goo Dolls, Train, John Legend, Pitbull and others. Shows scheduled for this June and July at the venue already have been postponed or canceled.
Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., is hosting NBA basketball and NHL hockey games at limited capacity. The number of fans allowed to attend Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals games has been capped at 10% of capacity, or 2,100 fans per game. (See news release.)
As for concerts, the earliest scheduled performance is Justin Bieber on July 28 and Nickelodeon’s JoJo Siwa on July 31. Capital One Arena has no concerts planned for August. Harry Styles and Celine Dion have separate concerts scheduled for late September at the arena.
The outdoor venue Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Virginia, hopes to begin welcoming back music fans in July. It has a host of rescheduled concerts scheduled for that month including the Black Crowes, Megadeth, Backstreet Boys, Matchbox Twenty and the Doobie Brothers.
Elsewhere in the music world, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Stagecoach Country Music Festival were canceled for the second straight year because of Covid. They had been scheduled for this month.
Gatherings related to popular culture genres also have been impacted by the health crisis.
San Diego Comic-Con and Anime Expo both have canceled their in-person conferences for the second straight year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The events had been scheduled for July. (See article by the Verge.)
Meanwhile, VidCon plans to return with an in-person gathering this fall. The annual conference devoted to online video creators is set for Oct. 21-24 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif. Organizers canceled last year’s in-person show because of the Covid-19 pandemic. (See article by the Hollywood Reporter.)
All I can say is, good luck.

Related articles:

How the conference industry sees the reopening of the economy post-Covid (Tech-media-tainment; April 14, 2021)

Love Comic-Con or E3? It may take a while for huge crowds to return to conventions (Los Angeles Times; April 8, 2021)

Photo: The Filene Center at the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. (Wolf Trap)