Coronavirus: Bryan Adams to headline largest German concert since March

Organiser Live Nation hopes to see 13,000 music fans attend ‘Give Live A Chance’ in Düsseldorf amid strict hygiene and distancing rules

Bryan Adams will headline the show in Dusseldorf. Antonie Robertson/The National

About 13,000 lucky music fans will become the first people in Germany to attend the first large-scale event of its kind since March as an array of performers takes to the stage in Düsseldorf on September 4.

The Canadian musician Bryan Adams is among those set to play, as is Sarah Connor, Rea Garvey and The BossHoss.

Organiser Live Nation said it wants to demonstrate that a major event can be put on at this time. Strict hygiene and social distancing measures will be in place.

Attendees will be required to wear a mask, leave their contact details and stay at their seats. Entry and exit will be staggered, and alcohol will be banned.

The concert is called Give Live A Chance.

In June, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said large events would be banned until at least the end of October if contact tracing and social distancing were not possible.

Germany has fared comparatively well in the coronavirus crisis so far but a rise in cases widely attributed to Germans returning from holiday has sparked concern in recent weeks.

On Thursday the number of new cases rose above the 1,000 mark – a level not seen since May 7.

Nearly 1,000 children were sent home on Friday when two schools were closed over coronavirus infections only days after they reopened full-time.

The closures happened in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the first of Germany's 16 states to reopen the school gates on Monday after summer holidays.

Germany’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, is preparing to send its 2.5 million pupils back to school next week.

From Saturday people arriving from a large number of countries deemed high-risk will be required to take coronavirus tests.

Health Minister Jens Spahn said Germany was witnessing lots of small outbreaks.

“People are getting infected at family parties, at their place of work or at community facilities,” he said.

France has seen a surge in new Covid-19 cases over the past 10 days with face masks to be made compulsory outdoors on Saturday for the rest of the month in the city of Marseille.

Data released by the French health ministry on Thursday showed there were 1,600 new Covid-19 infections in the past 24 hours.