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Music festival takes place on COVID-19-free island of Guernsey

The 44th Vale Earth Fair will be remembered as one of Europe's only 2020 festivals

A music festival has taken place on the COVID-19-free island of Guernsey. 

The 44th Vale Earth Fair welcomed 3,500 local attendees, who were treated to 12 hours of performances from bands, choirs and DJs, set in the stunning grounds of 600-year-old Vale Castle. All performers were from Guernsey.

The event will be remembered as one of the few European festivals to go ahead this year, with the list also including Estonia's Tallinn Music Week, which finished last weekend. Social distancing rules came to an end across the Channel Islands in June after the region was declared COVID-19-free, with pandemic border restrictions now firmly in place.  

Elsewhere in the world, the COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to wreak havoc on events — Uganda's Nyege Nyege crew are the latest to announce new dates. For more on the ever-changing situation, check our long reads on the impact of coronavirus on techno tourism, a key driver for the global club and festival scenes, and Tomorrowland's benchmark-setting virtual weekenders