Fort Worth River and Blue Festival begins amid COVID-19 case spike

FORT WORTH, Texas - The gates opened Friday for Fort Worth's River and Blues Festival amid a massive spike in COVID-19 cases in the county.

Organizers say they have added a lot of safety protocols for the event at Panther Island to keep the fun safe for everyone.

The noticeable measures begin the moment you get to the entrance with temperature checks along with security and bag screening. There are also hand sanitizer stations every few feet and something quite welcoming to many -- ‘pods’ or painted squares on the grass. Each party remains together inside their own space.

“I actually kind of love the idea of even having squares at any show, because being able to have your own space and not being stacked on top of each other in the first place is great,” said Madison Rankin.

“It’s been since February since we’ve been to a show, but I like the distancing everybody has. I think it’s going to be a pretty safe ordeal for everybody. Nobody’s in a hurry, nobody crowds anybody,” said David Faircloth.

Organizers said tickets sales for the two-day event were intentionally reduced by 40 percent to keep the setting sparse and as safe as possible.