Thousands attend music festival in Wuhan, 16 months after Covid first emerged there
Other music events are being held in different Chinese cities including Beijing
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A little more than a year after the first case of Covid-19 was detected in Wuhan, China, thousands of citizens attended an outdoor music festival that kicked off in the city on Saturday.
The Wuhan Strawberry Music Festival returned to Central China’s Hubei province after it had to be held online in 2020 because of the limitations due to the pandemic.
The number of attendees was limited this year with up to 11,000 people attending the festival and there were barriers in front of each stage with security personnel guarding the area, reported Reuters.
In 2020, Wuhan residents survived over two months of restrictions during the world’s first Covid-19 lockdown.
Since then, official reports have shown that the city has nearly become infection-free. The two-day event brought together homegrown artists and groups in Wuhan’s Garden Expo park.
Other Strawberry Music Festival events are likewise being held in different Chinese cities, including Beijing.
“This is my first time at an event like this held outdoors. I really like the atmosphere,” 29-year-old local Zhang Hongkai told Reuters.
Karen Woods, a political commentator, tweeted: “People in Wuhan gather for its annual outdoor Strawberry Music Festival. The city and the rest of China are mostly COVID 19 free. I still get nervous when a large crowd gathers with no mask or social distance though. China’s borders remain closed.”
The country’s health authority said on Saturday that mainland China reported 16 new positive cases of coronavirus on 30 April, which was up from 13 cases a day earlier.
Since the start of the pandemic, China has recorded 103,649 cases of Covid-19 including 4,858 deaths.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments