Alameda County Expands Car-Based Events To Allow Theater, Music

ALAMEDA COUNTY, CA — Residents in Alameda County can now enjoy a larger variety of entertainment from the comfort of their own cars, the county's public health department announced last week.

The new order went into effect on Monday and allows residents to enjoy more than just graduations from their cars. The new lineup includes musical, theatrical and artistic performances, lectures, presentations, movies and religious and cultural ceremonies.

The county's new order also increases the number of attendees from 200 to 400 vehicles at a time, and it allows venues to sell concessions under certain circumstances.

Under the new order, concessions can be sold if a system exists for attendees to order them in advance and pick them up during a certain assigned window.

In a news release, the county said any host or venue that plans to hold an event with over 200 vehicles in attendance to first submit a "Live Performance Plan" to COVIDRecovery@acgov.org.

Each venue will be required to explain its requirements for face coverings, temperature and symptom screenings, social distancing and sanitization.

For events scheduled after Monday, hosts must submit a plan to the county at least four weeks before the performance or event is to be held.

According to the release, vehicles must be enclosed and cannot include motorcycles, bicycles, the beds of pickup trucks or convertible cars with the top open. All occupants in each vehicle must be from the same household.