We were the only Motorcycle Travel Event which managed to run in 2020. We also operated successfully in 2021.
We can run events in a Pandemic if we all follow some simple rules.
Please Read the Following.
NOTE: We are constantly monitoring the latest developments such as the use of lateral flow tests being required for entry to events. We'll keep things updated and all attendees will be notified well in advance of what measures will be in place in any given year. In the HIGHLY unlikely event of a cancellation, refunds will of course be available.
If you've been to The Event before you'll know we don't have many rules, (No Glass, No Campervans and No Dogs being the cardinal ones). At the moment however, to allow us to be Socially Close but Physically Distant, we have had to add a few more rules due to the extraordinary times we're going through.
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BEFORE YOU TRAVEL TO AN EVENT - if you have any of the symptoms of Coronavirus please STAY AT HOME. As well as risking the health of your fellow Overlanders, an outbreak associated with The Event could put our ability to hold the event in future years at risk.
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Bring a Mask or other Face Covering - Your face covering can be of any sort (maybe even the necktube you rode in wearing!), but wearing a face covering will be compulsory in some areas of the event. These include the indoor presentation areas, Cafe area, toilet blocks etc. If you have an exemption from wearing a face covering, please email Saul on saul@overlandevent.com at least 7 days prior to the event. This enables us to make reasonable adjustments for you, and to make sure you get the right admission wristband.
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Bring your Overland Stackable! - during the era of COVID-19 our supply of Overland Stackable pint pots will be for sale rather than on a deposit basis for infection control reasons, so if you have one at home from a previous year, please bring it with you - we loathe plastic waste and want to use as few disposable glasses as possible. If you have another pint size drinking vessel you'd like to bring instead, that's cool too (but remember, No Glass). If you don't already have one, they are great pint pots for both alcoholic drinks and tea/coffee and are a great (practical) souvenir of your weekend.
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Bring a small First Aid Kit - whilst we still have First Aiders on standby, self-treatment should be your first action during the pandemic, so bring your own supply of plasters and a small dressing. Our First Aiders can advise on your self-treatment from a safe distance, and if necessary will suit up in PPE and treat you themselves, but this adds both cost (the PPE has to be thrown away afterwards) and delay, so self-sufficiency is the name of the game as far as possible.
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Bring a personal bottle of hand sanitiser - whilst we will have hand sanitiser dispensers around the site, and refill stations for you to refill your own hand sanitiser bottle, every penny we can save on hand sanitiser is another penny off our costs, which means another penny for charity!
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ON ARRIVAL - on arrival at The Event you'll be asked to take your helmet off and will have your temperature taken with a non-contact thermometer aimed at your forehead. This is to make sure that you are not running a fever. In the event that your reading is a bit on the high side, you'll be given a shady spot to sit in with a bottle of water to see if your temperature will stabilise.
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DURING THE EVENT - wash your hands regularly. In addition to the traditional soap and water for a 20 second hand wash, we'll have hand sanitiser stations around the site, and refills available for personal hand sanitiser bottles if required
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Wear a mask in indoor areas (unless you have an exemption wristband (see above). Each presentation is only 45 minutes long, so wearing masks indoors allows a balance between the potential infection risk and your comfort
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Keep 6 feet/2 metres apart - we're still in a pandemic and in most areas of the site you don't have to wear a mask, but that means we'd like you to consider other people's space and stay 6 feet/2 metres apart.
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Be Understanding - some people have exemptions from mask-wearing, so if you see someone without one in an area where they are needed, glance at their wristband - it might be different to yours - before reminding them.
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Don't encroach on personal space - be aware of how close you are to others.
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Follow any instructions from the organisers and volunteer stewards - running events during a pandemic is obviously even tougher than normal. Any instructions you are given are for the smooth running of the event, and to ensure we are able to use the venue and get a licence in future years too. Anyone who fails to follow stewards instructions, or consistently breaks our simple rules, will be issued with a refund and escorted from the site.
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Cleaning up - we will have increased cleaning of all communal areas, including presentation venues. This may mean that on occasion, there are slight delays on a room being ready - please bear with us. Sanitising materials will also be available at certain points for you to use yourself in order to look after the safety of yourselves and others. You might even be asked to lend a hand with cleaning up to get it all done more swiftly - please pitch in if you are able.
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First Aid - as we've said above, the arrangements for first aid in a pandemic are more complicated and mean that we are having to operate a four tier approach:
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If you have a minor injury, please administer self-treatment – you will hopefully have remembered to bring a small first aid kit with plasters and dressings for minor cuts etc. as advised above.
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If you don't have your own first aid kit, or the injury is still minor but a little more serious (needs a bandage rather than a plaster perhaps), our First Aid team will assess and “treat” you from a distance, i.e. they will give you (or someone you live with and are not socially distancing yourself from) advice and if required first aid supplies, and you clean the wound and apply bandage yourself under the direction of our first aider and to the first aiders satisfaction. In essence, the kind of first aid you'd apply to yourself at home or in a remote location.
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If your injury/illness is more serious, our First Aid team will don all of the appropriate PPE and administer treatment.
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In the unlikely event that CPR looks as if it is going to become required, we are advised to call an ambulance but not attempt to perform manual CPR as it is an aerosol-generating process that our level of PPE cannot protect the team against. This means that we will be applying a precautionary principle and will call an ambulance for less unwell patients than would usually be the case, so don't be alarmed if you are unwell and discover we've got the paramedics to you! We have a defibrillator on site.
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Bars - We have increased bar outlets, and this year have increased the choice of ales back to our usual levels. We are operating a token system for all drinks to reduce infection vectors of change being given and card machines being handled. Details will be emailed to you and buying tokens in advance of the event will save you money!
