Coronavirus: Tractors welcome at Ballymena drive-in country gig
- Published
Derek Ryan said he was so excited to be talking about a gig
If you're missing live music and country is your thing then you can get into your car - or tractor - and head for the Ballymena Showgrounds.
The island of Ireland's first drive-in country concert is taking place on 4 July.
If you fancy going in your Massey, John Deere or New Holland, there'll even be a special section for tractors.
The line-up will see country singing stars Derek Ryan, Marty Mone and Philomena Begley take to the stage.
Ryan said he was "so excited" to be talking about a gig.
He would normally perform at about 200 events a year, but lockdown had brought those to a halt, he added.
The event is being held at Ballymena Showgrounds
"The first few weeks was kind of a welcome break, just time to relax and exercise, work from home with song-writing and recording," he said.
"But I suppose after a month or so, I just started getting itchy feet and I'm just really excited to get back on stage."
Organiser Darren Gardiner said it was a logistical challenge to arrange the concert.
"We are absolutely adamant that we will stay well within the Covid guidelines and ensure that we're adhering to all social distancing and making sure that all of our people there, all of our crew, our artists and our visitors are safe," he said.
"We're only allowing 400 cars, or tractors. There is a section set aside for tractors and the tractors will not be in front of the cars.
"We're going to keep the numbers manageable so that we can make sure everyone who's there can see the stage and see the screens and enjoy themselves."
'Lift people's spirits'
Mr Gardiner said there would be toilets - but only for use "in case of emergency". A team will be on standby to make sure they are cleaned.
"I don't foresee there being an issue with crowds swarming around the toilet area," he said.
Mr Gardiner said it was good to put on something to help people take their minds off the coronavirus pandemic.
"Just as restrictions started to be lifted and the executive started to allow us really to start looking at what opportunities were there, as a team we just decided to try and do something," he said.
"Every week events are being cancelled, the artists are having their schedule just decimated by cancelled gigs and we just wanted to do something that would lift people's spirits."