Belmonts Payson Park Music Festival looks a little different this year due to coronavirus – Wicked Local Belmont

The 30th season of the annual Payson Park Music Festival officially kicked off on July 22 with The Love Dogs performing live in front of an audience who were seated in circles painted on the lawn of the park grounds. The Board of Health and the Belmont Recreation Department approved the outdoor concert series to take place, granting a special permit on a week-to-week basis.

On July 29, Tomi’s All Stars, featuring Binny Stone, James Brown Jr., Billy T., Karl Bryan, Lee Lundy and Sir Cecil will perform, sponsored by East Boston Savings Bank and Belmont Against Racism.

Several volunteers will work the event to help ensure the public adheres to the Phase 3 theater and performance state guidelines that will be followed:

Face masks are required. If someone is not wearing a mask, they will not be allowed to enter the park to watch the concert.
Families must sign in with their name and contact information and will be given a seating assignment for contact tracing purposes.
Signage and taped markings will direct the audience to the entrance and identify safe spacing.
Porta-Potties will not be available due to the difficulty of sanitizing them after each use.
Children attending will be counted toward the maximum number of 100 spectators. Children unattended by parents are discouraged from coming to the playground during the concert times. It is further requested that parents ensure that their children do not run between circles to preserve social distancing from other residents who may feel threatened by that closeness.
Attendees will be required to adhere to the carry-in-and-carry-out policy for food and trash.
There will be one entrance to the park at the corner of Payson and Elm streets. The opening on Elm Street will be an exit only, although it needs to be determined if the performers can be allowed to use that opening to drop off equipment.
All three openings will have a volunteer in place. The volunteer at the Elm/Payson opening will keep track of the number of entrants to the Park and check for face masks. Due to the guidance for outdoor performances only 100 persons are allowed in the park at a time. Once 100 persons are reached, additional attendees will be requested to listen to the music from their cars.
Twenty-five numbered circles will be laid out on the lawn and assigned to attendees. They will be 10 feet in diameter with 6 feet of space between each circle. Family units can sit together within the circle.
Performers will space themselves 10 feet apart on the concrete platform. The band will be 25 feet from the first row of circles. Performers will bring their own equipment.
Since the concert will begin at 6:30 p.m., performers will need to set up as early as 5 p.m. To monitor the numbers allowed into the park it will be necessary to close the park at 4:30 p.m. on the evening of a concert.

Concerts will take place every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. through Aug. 26, weather permitting. For more information, visit ppmf.org.

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