Pantomime risks - have you been.

[Tigersteakpie]

We have tickets for me and DC2 to go to the panto on the 2nd but I'm not 100% sold on going yet.

My DC loves theatre/singing and I really feel like he's missed out enough already with no choir/drama/shows. So am desperate to take him.

I've been triple boosted and am a SAHM so no issues with missing work if I get Covid and have to isolate. Would rather DC didn't miss school, but feel it's inevitable we'll get it at some point so 🤷.

I'm interested to know how many other people have been to pantomimes this year and if anyone who did go thinks they caught covid there. Or indeed, if you went and were then fine.

We are not London or home counties based but we are in the South. Locally cases are just below average.

We did panto and circus. One we were front row so less people around us. Other we were end of row with isle and fire exit to side, Isle in front and empty seat behind... So my exposure there was about 3 people within 2m for more than 15 minutes.

We did lft before and seem to have been fine.

We went over a week ago now, didn't catch covid.

If you are this anxious about it why did you book tickets? It doesn't really matter what other peoples experience has been you assess your level of risk and act/behave accordingly

We went on Christmas Eve and it was packed but felt lovely to be doing something so normal.
They did ask for masks to be worn throughout but 90% of people had theirs off for most of it, the staff didn't seem to mind.
Go and enjoy

We went just before Christmas with our dc and a group of friends/dc. Sold out. So much shouting and laughing. Loved it! None of us came back with covid.

Went in London on weekend before Christmas with DC, all adults wearing a mask, had a great time and dont regret it at all. Got lucky that we didn't catch anything there

We went last week and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Our kids have been at school all through December, packed in small classrooms and mixing year groups in the canteen, without masks - do you really think that a few hours in a big theatre with a mostly masked audience is going to be a bigger risk?
Unless there is some particular event coming up that you absolutely can’t afford to miss with self isolation, then just go and have fun! You’ll be sending them back to the virus soup of school soon enough - might as well have some fun first 😉

Doesn’t really matter whether you lft before going, you’re relying on other people. Most won’t bother, most won’t wear masks. You sound like you want to go so go and expect to have caught covid afterwards. Doesn’t seem like being positive will make any difference to you and your kids will possibly miss school which again doesn’t seem a problem. Don’t really see why you’re asking about it given all you’ve said.

We went last week and I’m so glad we did. It felt great to be doing something normal and I have to admit to shedding a few tears 🙈.

Go and enjoy it!

I went to the panto on Xmas eve (wore a mask throughout),loved it,tested positive today

Id be there in a heartbeat

We went yesterday. Parents & me double jabbed, boostered, dd1 10 had Covid just before Christmas, Dd2 7 managed to avoid it when we had it at home so 🤷‍♀️
Lots of mask wearing, felt quite open where we were sat & lots and lots of fun.
Felt much safer than Disney on Ice at the O2 on Weds.

We went on the 18th. Kids loved it it felt really nice and normal.

We went on the 22nd
All adults triple jabbed, everyone in our group including kids wore masks (they had fun Xmas ones) , we did LFTs before we went and I (CEV) was double masked.

We are in an area with relatively low community rates and hardly any omnicron circulating atm (DH is dr on the Covid planning team at the hospital) so felt it was less of a risk than some places.
I think you can only assess for where you are and probably only on the day as everything is changing.

Nearly all the adults and quite a few of the children had masks on across the audience and there was a proportion of no shows which helped it feel less crowded too.

We went on 21st Dec. I tested positive on 24th, I strongly suspect I caught covid at the pantomime. I was wearing a mask at all times when not drinking

I've been to two this month and none of us caught covid. Also did some trips into London on very busy public transport and back again. Admittedly numbers weren't so high then, and I'm not 100% sure I'd do it now tbh.

We went on the 19th and were fine.

Went with 8 family members at the beginning of December.
It was great dd loved it. We all went for dinner beforehand.

@wizzbangfizz I actually booked the tickets in July, wasn't expecting omicron, obviously. Our panto also sells out so I wanted to have the tickets and then the option of cancelling rather than no option of going at all.

We are going to go 🙌 I know it's a personal choice but it does help to hear other people's experiences. It helps me decide if it's a risk I want to take or not.

But people are right, kids have missed out enough so we'll go.

In many cases people with Covid are asymptomatic. People saying 'I went lest week and didn't catch covid' you can not possibly know that.

Oh yes we did. Went week before Xmas. Was great to see a live performance again. Fairly small theatre - that said still a disproportionate amount of people not wearing masks. In that small a theatre find it hard to believe there were that many not truly exempt rather than just selfish.

Would have gone in a heartbeat but Nicola stole our Christmas

I went , I have covid don’t know if it was from there or an Xmas party or work or other Xmas activities we did , ended up isolating from Xmas Eve and have been a bit ill to

If I could go back in time I’d still go to all the same stuff , we had a lovely run up to Xmas and the dc deserved it 🤷🏻‍♀️

Should say I now have covid I didn’t go to the panto with covid