BBC Proms To Return To Royal Albert Hall At Full Capacity

The BBC Proms will go ahead at full capacity this year, with audience members “strongly encouraged” to wear masks and required to provide a negative lateral flow test, proof of natural immunity with a positive PCR test or proof of double vaccination.

Promming tickets, where audience members can stand in the arena or gallery areas of the Royal Albert Hall, will also be available on the day of each concert.

The 2020 edition featured a reduced orchestra playing to an empty auditorium due to coronavirus restrictions – with the singers placed in the stalls to ensure social distancing.

The return of the fully-fledged event will feature 52 concerts over 44 days featuring 30 orchestras and ensembles, more than 100 soloists and conductors and more than 2,000 musicians.

A statement from the broadcaster said: “The safety of our audiences is our main priority and we are taking every step we can to open the Proms safely without social distancing.”

Audience members over the age of 18 will be asked to provide a negative lateral flow test taken within 48 hours of the performance, or evidence of double vaccination provided via the NHS App or a letter provided by the NHS.

They can also offer proof of natural immunity based upon a positive PCR test taken within 180 days of the performance.

Audience members under the age of 18 will be asked for verbal confirmation from a parent or guardian that they have not received a positive test.

Additional tickets for the first half of the Proms will go on sale at 12pm on July 23, and tickets for the second half of the season go on sale at 9am on July 24.

This year’s programme includes a First Night premiere of Sir James MacMillan’s companion piece to Vaughan Williams’s Serenade To Music, co-commissioned with the charity Help Musicians and performed by a quartet of British singers.

Both established and emerging British talent will be celebrated, including violinist Nicola Benedetti, vocalist Karen Cargill, conductors Sir Mark Elder and Sir Simon Rattle, pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, mezzo-soprano Christine Rice and veteran conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner in his 60th Proms appearance.

The BBC Proms opens on July 30 and runs until September 11.