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Kimmel Center drops COVID-19 safety protocols

Audience surveys showed the arts center’s patrons evenly split among those who wanted a mask mandate and those who didn’t.

Usher Michael Messina works inside Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center before the Glorious Sound of Christmas concert by the Philadelphia Orchestra Dec. 16, 2021. Two of his daughters usher just up the street at the Academy of Music.
Usher Michael Messina works inside Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center before the Glorious Sound of Christmas concert by the Philadelphia Orchestra Dec. 16, 2021. Two of his daughters usher just up the street at the Academy of Music.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer

The Kimmel Center dropped all of its COVID-related audience protocols this week. As of this past Monday, patrons no longer have to show vaccine cards or wear masks to enter the center and its theaters.

“Masks are welcome and encouraged, but not required,” said Matías Tarnopolsky, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center, Inc.

The change in policy was “basically in response to the science and established protocols in the region,” he said, “and in part in response to audiences, as well.”

Audience surveys showed the arts center’s patrons evenly split among those who wanted a mask mandate and those who didn’t, said Tarnopolsky.

The lifting of COVID-19 protocols applies to the Kimmel’s public spaces as well as theaters like the Academy of Music, Verizon Hall, the Perelman and Miller (formerly Merriam) theaters, and other venues.

The new policy is subject to change, he said.

“We’re in a constant state of review, and we will make a change if public-health circumstances dictate.”