Get ready for packed dance floors in Music City once again.
Nashville announced today that the city will lift ALL COVID-19 restrictions on businesses and gatherings on May 14 – well, all of them except for the indoor mask mandate.
According to Mayor John Cooper, the date was chosen because it will be 6 weeks after the vaccine became available to all adults in Nashville, and 6 weeks is the time it takes to reach full immunity from the slowest of the 3 vaccines.
So what do these changes mean?
Well the biggest change is that bars and restaurants will no longer have to reduce their capacity. Currently bars are capped at 225 people per floor, socially distanced of course. Guests are also required to remain seated, so that means that dance floors have been forced to remain closed off.
At least theoretically.
Retail stores and gyms have also been capped in their capacity, as have event spaces and arenas for things like Nashville Predator hockey games.
Going forward, stadium and arena capacity will still be determined by event and facility management, so we may not see full-capacity arena and concert venues just yet, but the city will no longer mandate those restrictions.
Nashville’s Lower Broadway has made headlines recently for the large crowds on the streets that have been flocking back to the famous honky tonk district, creating sometimes hours-long lines outside of the bars that are limited in the number of people they’re allowed to host.
And the biggest question I’ve seen from people who are planning on visiting Nashville:
“Is dancing allowed?”
Well the good news is that anybody worried about Nashville looking like a scene out of Footloose will soon be able to pack the dance floors once again.
There are also several concerts and events coming up at Bridgestone Arena, and eliminating these restrictions will give the venue the option of welcoming more fans in for shows like Alabama and Luke Bryan, as well as the CINCH World’s Toughest Rodeo.
The city also recently announced its first major event since the pandemic began, a Fourth of July celebration featuring a live concert from Brad Paisley.
So if you’ve been holding off on coming to Nashville until things get back to normal, it looks like you can finally start planning that trip.
