Since the COVID-19 vaccine became available to the public, US music promoters have been forced to actively adjust and reevaluate their safety policies. Today, promoter Danny Wimmer Presents announced a new policy regarding music festival admittance that it says is aimed at ultimately bringing people back together.

According to the new policy, attendees of future events must now provide either proof of a full COVID-19 vaccination or provide a negative COVID-19 test result taken within 72 hours of the event. This shift in policy has significant implications for the rock world. Danny Wimmer Presents produces and promotes some of the biggest metal and hard rock festivals in the US, including the mega popular Louder Than Life, Aftershock and Inkcarceration festivals.

Louder Than Life, which was canceled in 2020, is set to feature metal titans Nine Inch Nails, Korn and Jane’s Addiction this September in Kentucky.

In October, the Aftershock festival will feature Metallica and the original members of Misfits, who are slated to replace My Chemical Romance. The Offspring, Limp Bizkit and Machine Gun Kelly are also scheduled to perform in this California based event.

The Inkcarceration Festival will host more than 75 tattoo artists and a powerful metal lineup this September. Located at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, OH, this event will feature some of the biggest names in rock including Slipknot, Rob Zombie & Mudvayne.

In a statement issued by founder Danny Wimmer, a rationale was provided for new policy. In these unprecedented times, Wimmer claims that he is trying to do everything in his power to ensure that festivals happen, even if that requires him “enacting policies that some people may not agree with.”

Wimmer implores the public to give the new policy serious thought before reacting to it negatively. He claims that that “world needs music festivals now more than ever,” and that this move is for all the people and artists who depend on live events as a source of healing and livelihood. Wimmer is confident “that these requirements are what is needed to guarantee that we have fun and safe festivals this Fall.”

Concert promoters have been in the news this week as the Delta variant ramps up. Coachella promoter AEG announced that they will be requiring proof of vaccination for all of its US venues starting this fall. Live Nation, the largest US concert promoter, announced that they will allow artists to require vaccination or negative COVID tests for admittance to future events.