We’re all eager to come together again – to celebrate art, to see our friends, and enjoy a great party. In the ever changing, ongoing landscape of the pandemic, however, we need to be mindful of how we go about events. We are going to address how the Seattle Erotic Art Festival events will operate in order to comply with current guidelines and celebrate as safely as possible.
On March 1, 2022, King County Public Health lifted the mandate that entertainment venues must have all attendees provide verification of full vaccination status or a negative COVID test result. The indoor mask mandate in King County was lifted March 12, 2022, and as of April 5, 2022, the Seattle Center lifted their indoor mask mandate, too. While SEAF will follow the guidelines of not requiring attendees to wear masks, we want to honor and support those in our community who still benefit from them.
The Short Version
- Masks within SEAF are not required, but are encouraged.
- All volunteers, staff, and attendees must self-monitor for symptoms.
- Vaccination is strongly encouraged.
The Long Version
While we are all eager to return to a semblance of normal, we have a collective responsibility to do what we can to prevent the spread of COVID-19 variants. When we hold events, we are creating the conditions for the virus to evolve. Given this, we need to continue our vigilance for the more vulnerable members of our community.
Symptom screening is essential. Anyone with symptoms of any kind is not welcome at SEAF. If you are ill, you shouldn’t be attending regardless of the cause. If you have allergies, you will want to take an antihistamine before showing up at the exhibition hall. To quote our consulting epidemiologist, “The number of times I’ve heard ‘I thought it was just a cold,’ from people who are severely ill is not funny.”
While wearing face masks is not required, SEAF welcomes and encourages all volunteers, staff, and attendees to wear a mask while inside the festival. Please do not question anyone’s decision to continue to wear a mask indoors. We look forward to seeing how you incorporate masks into your costumes and outfits at our events. (We will have judges circulating at different times throughout the event, awarding gift bags to attendees with particularly sexy, clever, or fancy face masks.)
We are grateful to the staff of Seattle Center for working with us so closely in our preparations. They have advised us on the location of intakes for the HVAC system of the Exhibition Hall for the best layout to support airflow. Extra cleanings have been arranged throughout the weekend, as well as sanitation stations for patron use throughout the hall.
We are eager to see you all, and to show you amazing art, literature, and performances. Stay safe, and we’ll see you at our next event.