It may sound like an egregious flaunting of COVID-19 rules — but this massive, mask-less rave without social distancing in Liverpool, England, was in fact government sanctioned.
The nightclub event, featuring a crowd of around 3,000 people aged 18 to 20 listening and dancing to live music, was an experiment put on by the UK government's Events Research Program (ERP).
The program is a scientific effort to understand how nightclubs and live events could make their long-awaited — and safe — return this summer, CNN reports.
"I went in and I was like, oh my goodness, there are people and they're together and they're dancing and they're smiling and this is actually happening," DJ Jayda G told the BBC. "You can feel it, like big energy."
"I thought I had my teenage years robbed from me but after that tonight, it was absolutely amazing," one clubber told BBC Radio 5.
The ERP also investigated a soccer cup final that was attended by some 8,000 people at London's Wembley stadium.
Through the experiments, the scientists are hoping to see how social distancing and ventilation affects the spread of the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, the UK is blazing ahead with its COVID-19 vaccine rollout. In England, non-essential retailers reopened on April 12. As of May 17, the country will allow sporting events and indoor restaurants to reopen as well.
Despite its success in rolling out the vaccines, the UK has the fifth-highest death toll in the entire world, having recorded more than 127,000 COVID-19-related deaths, according to Reuters.
In other words, better late than never at beating back the coronavirus.
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