Winter Roots Covid Policy

It’s Flurry weekend! Do you have:

A primary vaccination series or J&J shot?
A booster, if you finished your primary series in 2021?

You’ll need proof of both vaccination and booster before you can get your ticket!

Are you testing at home?

Put your ID in the frame with your test when you take a photo
Test must be from the day you are entering the festival

Testing on site?

Tests cost $20
You’ll need to mask in the testing area, and wait there 15 minutes while your test runs

1/31/23 Note: Our Covid policy has been updated, such that the vaccination requirement is now for a base shot/series plus booster, rather than requiring a dose within 2022/23. Please see below the policy for our letter of explanation.

The following is our Covid policy for the 2023 Winter Roots Festival. If you are considering attending, please click each item for additional related information. We understand that no single policy will meet everyone’s needs or preferences, so this year, while Covid still presents complications, we ask you to read our official policy thoroughly so you can make an informed decision about your choice to attend Winter Roots.

Click on each policy point to expand a drop-down explanation with additional details.

❄️1. Documentation of Covid vaccination is required, provided either in advance or at the door. Must include an original shot/series, plus a booster. We have removed the requirement that a dose be received in 2022 or 2023, but continue to encourage those for whom an updated booster is recommended to obtain one.

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Those who received their initial series in 2022 are not required to have a booster. However, we strongly encourage everyone who has not yet obtained the bivalent booster to do so if eligible (see https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html).

Acceptable forms of documentation are

The original, or a clear image of, your CDC vaccination card or international equivalent
A digital vaccination pass issued by a governmental source or medical provider with dates of vaccination listed (without needing a QR scanned); for example, the NY Excelsior Pass Plus or a SMART Health Card (please keep in mind digital passes may need to be updated with your latest booster information to be valid).
You will be asked to show ID during ticket purchase/pickup, which must match your provided vaccination record.

Vaccination can be documented by

Uploading an image at the time you purchase an advance ticket
Emailing an image to vax@flurryfestival.org by Monday, February 13
Showing documentation to staff when you pick up or purchase a ticket

We recommend that even if you provide documentation in advance you keep an image with you to avoid any complications at entry.

Medical exceptions:

If you have completed an initial vaccine dose/series prior to 2022 and have been advised not to receive a booster because you had Covid within the past three months, please email us at covid2023@flurryfestival.org to provide either a doctor’s note or a PCR test result to document. If it has been more than three months since you had Covid, the CDC recommends you obtain a booster. If you are unable to document that you had Covid within the three-month window, we will require you to obtain a booster before the festival.

Genuine medical barriers to Covid vaccination are uncommon, but do exist. To request such an exemption you should, prior to purchasing a ticket, submit a letter from your MD or DO, who is licensed and board certified in ENT, internal, family, or pediatric medicine, stating that you are not eligible for vaccination for medical reasons, to covid2023@flurryfestival.org. The Flurry will review your request and respond. All requests should be submitted by Friday, January 27, to allow time for review. Requests submitted after this date may not be considered. Anyone granted a medical exemption to the requirement for an initial dose/series will be asked to mask for the duration of the festival

Please note: If you are denied entry to the festival because you cannot provide the required documentation of vaccination, you will not be entitled to a refund of your ticket.

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Contemplating vaccination requirements, as we all know, is a tough one. Our community has widely disparate views on the topic, and very strong feelings. We respect the right of each individual to make the decision that is best for them, while we also need to consider the overall effect our policy decision has on the event.

We know there are many arguments to be made for and against vaccination requirements, and not a small amount of nuance involved. With the understanding that individual Flurry organizers may hold their own personal positions, Winter Roots is implementing this vaccination policy for the following reasons:

Covid vaccination is beneficial to the individual receiving it, reducing the likelihood of a bad outcome when infected with the virus. We don’t want to risk severe illness for any of our participants, regardless of their own risk tolerance.
While some individuals experience highly unpleasant temporary side effects from vaccination, there is no valid scientific evidence suggesting Covid vaccination is harmful to any but the very rarest of individuals with specific pre-existing conditions. Most sources of such evidence are not accepted by the mainstream scientific and public health community, and include misleading or inaccurate data.
Although some individuals who support required vaccination also support required masking, we believe that a larger number of them are accepting of optional masking, while some are unwilling or unable to dance in a mask. Therefore, if we are deciding not to require masking, vaccination and testing requirements provide reasonable alternatives for much of our Covid-cautious population.
Many of those who oppose vaccination requirements also oppose testing and masking requirements, and so we are likely to lose them as attendees if any precautions are put in place.
In the unlikely event that a severe change in Covid conditions causes us to institute greater precautions, we did not want a vaccination requirement to be something sprung on participants later. We want to be upfront about this requirement, and know that anyone choosing to attend Winter Roots will accept it.

❄️2. Prior to picking up their wristbands, attendees must either show a day-of-entry time-stamped (your phone's camera app collects this data) photograph including their negative rapid antigen test and photo ID, or purchase from us a rapid test to take on site. We recommend, but not require, that an additional rapid test be taken on the morning of the second day. If we have excess tests we will sell them at cost.

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When you first enter the City Center, your destination will be determined by whether you have taken a test already that day.

At the Verification Station, you may show a clear photograph of your negative test, which must be time-stamped with that day’s date (most phones will do this automatically; try swiping up from the image), and which must contain an image of your photo ID within the picture. (If you do not have a photo ID, you may include yourself in the photo.) Once your vaccination status and photo are verified, you will get a hand stamp and proceed to purchase or pick up your ticket.
If you have not tested, you will be directed to a separate area where you will have vaccination verified and can purchase a rapid test for $20 to take on site. You will self-test, under supervision and with assistance if needed. When your test has been read as negative by staff, you will receive a hand stamp and can proceed to purchase or pick up your ticket.
If you’d like to bring your own test you may. Just make sure it’s on the FDA approved test list, and bring it to the testing room to take under supervision. Do NOT test in your car and bring the test strip in, as the test must remain horizontal while developing and be read within a specific window.

If we have extra tests, we’ll make the available for at low cost, if you’d like to test on subsequent days.

If your test is positive or inconclusive, testing staff will contact the on-call medical professional to advise. If you are not admitted to the festival due to a positive test and have purchased an advance ticket, you will be eligible to request a refund after the festival.

If you have recovered from Covid within the previous month, you are advised to obtain a letter of clearance from a medical provider to bring with you to the festival, indicating that you have fully recovered. That way, if you have an unexpected lingering positive test at entry, you will have documentation to explain. If your positive test or symptoms began within the past ten days, you are not eligible for entry.

❄️3. Anyone who recently had Covid, with symptoms beginning less than 10 days ago, may not attend, and can receive a refund.

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If you had a positive Covid test within ten days, but your symptoms began over ten days ago, please bring a note from a medical provider stating that your illness has resolved and you are cleared for attending a large gathering. Even if you have tested negative since, your test may turn positive again on the day of entry. Needless to say, if you still have any active symptoms, you should not be attending!

❄️4. Anyone with new (developed within the past 5 days) or worsened symptoms associated with Covid or flu may not attend and can receive a refund.

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If everyone who had Covid knew for sure they had Covid, this thing wouldn’t spread the way it does!

We expect attendees will be responsible about self-screening, and not blowing off any symptoms. A sore throat, fever, or headaches should be automatic red flags. We realize this can be a difficult choice to make, as no one wants to miss the Flurry! We also understand that we’re asking people who have illnesses other than Covid not to attend. In past years, colds and flus were an expected outcome of Flurry participation, but this year is different. The flu also poses a real danger to some folks, and we don’t know how stretched thin medical resources will be at the time. We want to keep all the bugs we can out, and that may involve asking you to make a hard choice. If you’re unsure of whether you should be screening yourself out due to symptoms, please contact us so we can have our on-call doc advise you.

***You are not powerless here.*** As so many of you have observed, high-quality and correctly worn masks are fantastic at preventing airborne illness. For the week before Winter Roots, we recommend masking up in public places and avoid high-risk situations, so you can spare yourself angst as the festival approaches!

❄️5. We strongly encourage, but do not require, masking during the festival.

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We’ll have KN95s available for free (while supplies last, donations accepted) at the festival, and also encourage you to bring whatever is most comfortable for you. Remember that you’ll go through masks quicker when you’re active and sweaty!

All dances with partner lines/groups, such as English country, contra, and square, will offer at least one mask-only line. Callers will direct dancers who prefer a masked line where to go.

❄️6. An on-call medical professional will be available in the event someone exhibits symptoms or has a positive test at entry or over the weekend, to assess and make a disposition.

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During the process of assessment, you will be required to wear a mask. It will be at the Flurry’s discretion, based on our professional’s opinion, whether an individual is required to leave the festival. Anyone staying at the Hilton will be asked to isolate in their room while they remain on-site.

Close contacts of anyone testing positive or symptomatic will be evaluated by our medical professional and advised as to how to proceed.

Reminder: Reduce your risk exposure in the week before the festival to avoid such a situation!

❄️7. If the organizers determine that conditions at the time of the festival warrant additional safety precautions, additional measures may be put in place.

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What might cause that to happen?

Prevalence of the active variant locally is much higher than expected, and positive test rates skyrocket
A new variant causes a significantly higher mortality rate, or is linked to new bad outcomes
Local, state, or national governments put restrictions in place
Some other variable causes us to be greatly concerned for participant safety

And how might we respond?

We might decide that a mask requirement is necessary
We might ask for testing each day of the festival
We might restrict capacity in some spaces
We might choose not to sell tickets at the door
If we felt holding the festival posed a high danger to participants or to public health, we might cancel

What won’t we do?

We won’t arbitrarily put more restrictions in place because we’re getting nervous
We won’t make our vaccination requirement stricter
We won’t provide a refund if you don’t like any additional restrictions put in place
We won’t provide a refund if you no longer feel safe attending the festival

We expect all participants to understand that there will be a degree of Covid risk in attending this festival, regardless of the precautions you personally or all attendees collectively take. Although we are working to prevent it and hope it does not, we expect the virus may find its way into the festival, and that those who choose to go unmasked will be at greater risk for contracting it.

The following is the letter published on 1/31/23 explaining the change to our vaccination policy:

Dear Flurry Community,

We are modifying our Covid policy for Winter Roots, such that the vaccination requirement will now be for an initial dose/series, plus one booster, rather than requiring a dose specifically within 2022 or 2023. We also wish to reemphasize the importance of other preventative measures such as masking and testing. To facilitate these precautions, we will be making our supply of high-filtration masks available for free, and if we have extra rapid tests after Saturday morning we will offer them at cost.

Vaccinations

When we initially crafted our Covid policy, the bivalent booster was newly released and there were high scientific hopes that it would do for Omicron what the original vaccine did for Delta. We were optimistic that requiring recent boosting would greatly reduce risk of transmission at the festival, and that, in conjunction with testing and encouraged masking, it would allow us to hold a very low-risk event. Two-thirds of our survey respondents were willing to attend under the policy we proposed.

As we now know, the role of the bivalent booster, and vaccination in general, has taken a back seat in the arsenal of transmission prevention. The policy we drafted based on available research and then confirmed with survey data, once on solid scientific ground, now looks a bit shakier. With nearly the entire country having gained some immunity to the virus through vaccination and/or prior exposure, and as only 20% of the US population has obtained the bivalent booster, the criteria we set for admittance look excessively restrictive in retrospect. We did not anticipate the number of people who last boosted in late 2021, and to whom we have needed to deny entry because they missed the 2022 cutoff by a very small degree.

Therefore, based on current circumstances and community feedback, we have decided to adjust our policy and will now accept documentation of vaccination with one booster for admittance to Winter Roots. We are deeply appreciative of all those who already obtained a recent booster for Flurry purposes, and support continued updating of boosters where recommended.

Masking

We understand that our community is divided on mask requirements. We have chosen to keep masks optional, while strongly encouraging all participants for whom it is comfortable and viable to mask. English, contra, and square dances, etc, will incorporate a mask-only line/set option, and KN95 masks will be freely available during the festival. We believe that masking and testing are powerful tools for preventing viral spread, while also understanding and respecting that people choose not to mask for many reasons including health restrictions, comfort, breathability etc. For those who do have higher personal concern around contracting Covid, research has shown that a well-fitting mask worn properly and continuously is extremely protective, even in situations in which others are unmasked.

Testing

Rapid testing does not catch all cases of Covid, but can be good at detecting them at their most transmissible, and also makes for a good check on our impulse to minimize symptoms when they appear. We will continue to require that testing be done prior to arrival or on-site, and encourage everyone to bring additional tests to complete on subsequent days. If we have sufficient tests remaining in our own supply, we will provide them at low cost for those who wish to test again.

When creating policy for an event of this scale, finding the perfect balance between responsible organizing, risk assessment around poorly-defined variables, and respect for individual decision-making presents an impossible task, and the results will inevitably be unacceptable to some. As we near Flurrytime, however, we hope that this change in orientation will better align us with current research and make sense to our participants, and increase the accessibility of the festival while preserving the elements most powerful at reducing risk. We wish we could create a Winter Roots that is fully accessible to all of our community, but our first year back from the height of the pandemic and our community’s many differing perspectives on safety and autonomy have proven challenging to navigate. We thank you for your grace with us as we navigate this year and work to bring our beloved Flurry back to life.

You may direct any questions to covid2023@flurryfestival.org, and we hope you will continue to support us in our attempt to make a winter Flurry in 2023 possible.

Thank you,

The Flurry Team

Ticket Refund Policy

There will be no refunds for reasons which are not related to illness resembling, infection by, or recent close exposure to Covid-19. All refund requests will be processed within two weeks following the festival, and should be made in writing to advancetickets@flurryfestival.org. We cannot guarantee that a refund can be issued immediately if you are denied entry due to a positive test or symptoms, but you will remain eligible.

A refund will be available, if accompanied by request made in writing and any appropriate documentation, if:

You test positive within 10 days of the start of the festival, or at the door
You recently had Covid, with symptoms beginning within the past 10 days
You do not attend because of Covid- or flu-like symptoms
You do not attend because of a known close exposure to a person with Covid

A refund will not be available if:

You leave the festival early due to a positive Covid test or symptoms
You choose not to attend due to Covid safety concerns
You choose not to attend because of additional restrictions we put in place
You are denied entry because you cannot document vaccination as required

Recommendations for Attendees:

If you are traveling a distance, test before leaving home, in addition to the required day-of-entry test
If you have recovered from Covid within a few weeks of the festival (but symptoms began more than 10 days ago), obtain a medical note of clearance from a medical professional to bring with you, in case you have a lingering positive result on your rapid test
If you believe you should be exempt from any aspect of this policy for a medical reason, please contact covid2023@flurryfestival.org. Requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and will require supporting documentation from an MD or DO who is licensed and board certified in ENT, internal, family, or pediatric medicine
Masks will be available for free with a suggestion donation, but if you have a preferred type bring plenty along

Survey Results

In the interests of transparency, and to help you understand our decision-making process, we are providing the results from our survey, accompanied by some notes.

Interesting tidbits for the curious:

2/3 of those considering attending Winter Roots would attend under the proposed Covid policy, although only 42% were fully satisfied with the policy as drafted.
Of people opposed to a vaccination requirement, about 3/4 were also opposed to testing prior to entry.
A desire for required masking far outstripped the desire for stricter testing or vaccination requirements.
Our early responses contained a larger percentage of those desiring mask requirements, while our later responses contained a larger percentage of those disliking Covid restrictions.
About 10% of the comments we received contained misinformation around Covid (as opposed to disagreement with our policy or reasoning). Many of these comments came in around the same time, beginning several days after the survey opened. 56% of the comments containing misinformation were submitted by people who had never attended a Flurry.
A number of survey respondents inquired about ventilation. The City Center has upgraded to MERV 13 filters in its HVAC system, while the Hilton was unable to do so. City Center spaces include Room D, Meeting Room 1 & 2, and Rooms A/B/C.

On to the results…

Forms response chart. Question title: Which description best characterizes you?
. Number of responses: 563 responses.

Of those who had never attended a Flurry:

49% would attend under the proposed policy
9% wouldn’t have attended regardless of Covid
11% wrote comments incorporating Covid misinformation

It looks like we have strong support for Spring Bloom!

[Note: The Spring Bloom festival has been cancelled]

Forms response chart. Question title: Would you be willing to attend Winter Roots given the above set of policies?
. Number of responses: 521 responses.

68% of all respondents are able and willing to come, even though some of them are not happy with all of our proposed choices.

Note: In the first few days, responses from those who felt masks should be required outnumbered those from people opposed to a vaccination requirement. In the last few days, several waves of responses in opposition to vaccination arrived in close proximity in time, with a few submissions appearing to be near duplicates. This leads us to suspect the data may be slightly distorted, with opposition to vaccination requirements being lightly over-represented.

Forms response chart. Question title: I would prefer:
. Number of responses: 314 responses.

About 16% of all potential attendees felt that required masking was either essential (wouldn’t attend without) or highly desirable (as indicated in comments).

While a larger number of people willing to attend under this proposed policy preferred masked sets to masked sessions, a larger proportion of those preferring masked sessions were uncomfortable with our proposed policy (presumably for being too lax), and many more of them commented in support of masking. That suggests to us that many of those who feel strongly about masking may be more comfortable with some mask-only sessions.

Observations from survey comments:

A number of those willing to come under this policy also indicated in comments that they would have preferred required masking.
Some of those willing to come under this policy also commented that they would have preferred testing to be required every day.
A few of those willing to come under this policy pointed out that not requiring the bivalent booster seemed at odds with our stated goal of having most people recently vaccinated, although most of those mentioning vaccination were satisfied with our proposed policy.

An enormous thank you to everyone who responded to the survey and sent in comments, all of which were reviewed! We are especially appreciative of those who expressed their dissenting viewpoints in a polite and thoughtful manner, and encourage you to continue the dialogue with us as we go forward in events to come. Although there was clearly vast disagreement among participants, we believe these results support our decision to go forward with the policy as proposed, as a best-fit model which will of necessity be unacceptable to some.