TRNSMT festival: Up to 50,000 music fans arrive at Glasgow Green

Up to 50,000 people are descending on Glasgow Green for the first day of the TRNSMT festival.

The three-day event will see performances from artists including Liam Gallagher, Snow Patrol, Amy Macdonald and The Chemical Brothers.

Vaccine passports are not being introduced until 1 October but ticket holders will be refused entry without proof of a negative lateral flow test.

The organisers said precautions were in place to prevent Covid spreading.

In addition to needing a negative lateral flow test to enter - which must have been taken no more than 48 hours before arrival - those fans attending on multiple days must take a second test 48 hours after the first one.

Rapper Berwyn was one of the first acts to kick off the TRNSMT weekend

Lateral flow tests can be ordered for free online, and arrive in the post. They can also be collected from pharmacies.

Festival goers will need to take a test in advance and register the result online.

They will then receive a text message or email confirmation which can be shown to festival stewards.

• Festivals and Covid: A risk worth taking?

TRNSMT is also asking fans to avoid sharing cars with people outside their household and to wear masks if travelling on public transport.

It also recommends that face coverings are worn in any queues on entry, as well as at toilets or bar areas.

The festival is operating as a completely cashless site for the first time, with all vendors taking contactless payments.

As a result of the pandemic, last year's festival was cancelled. This year's event was meant to take place in July, but was rescheduled to this weekend.

Over the course of the weekend, The Courteeners, Twin Atlantic, Primal Scream and Keane will also perform.

Scottish indie band The Snuts cancelled their appearance after one of the band and a crew member tested positive for the virus.

Pulling out on Friday morning, the day of their gig, they said on Twitter that they were "beyond devastated".

Each day, up to 50,000 fans will be allowed on site - the same capacity as in previous years.

One reveller arriving on Friday afternoon said it felt great to be back - having originally purchased his ticket for the cancelled 2020 event.

"It's great acts this weekend, I'm really excited," he added.

Another said: "It means a lot [to be here]. It will be good to not just be at home anymore. Missed it last year, it's good that it's back."

"I've definitely missed live music," said another.

Asked how the testing went, one attendee said: "It's not too bad, once your test is done that's you sorted. If it means you can get in you'll do anything!"

'First big weekend out'

Geoff Ellis, festival director of TRNSMT, previously said: "For lots of people, this will be the first big weekend out they've had in over a year - long overdue and extremely well-deserved after some really tough months.

"But we all need to work together and we're reaching out to fans to make sure they order and take lateral flow tests 48 hours prior to entry and upload the result, use the on-site hygiene points and wear a mask when queuing.

"It's impossible to completely eliminate the risk of Covid, but we're doing our best to reduce it as much as possible."

Despite the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board area having the worst Covid rate in Europe, second only to the NHS Lanarkshire area - according to WHO data - the Scottish government said it was safe for the festival to go ahead.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said the organisers had been "very responsible" to make the event as safe as they could.

He added: "What I would say to people is please use your judgement, you know the good behaviours that can help to reduce transmission so please make sure you are co-operating in that respect using your best judgement."

TRNSMT is not the first big event to take place on Glasgow Green during the pandemic - earlier this summer, the site was used as a fanzone for the Euro 2020 tournament.

And on Thursday night, Scottish band Biffy Clyro played there.

Festivals around the UK have reported Covid outbreaks over the summer.

In August, more than 4,700 Covid cases were linked to a festival in Cornwall.

And more than 1,000 attendees of the Latitude festival - which was held in July as a "test" event - later tested positive for Covid.

Some 70 cases of Covid have been linked to Wales' largest music festival, the Green Man festival, which took place last week with 25,000 people in attendance.