MUSIC and arts venues across Scotland could be forced to hike ticket prices to help cover the costs of ensuring cultural events are Covid-safe – amid fears there is “no such thing as a socially distant theatre”.

Mass gatherings were the first social events to be banned by the Scottish Government in March as the realities of the Covid-19 crisis first swept across the country – and venues desperate to sell tickets to stay afloat are yet to reopen and haven’t even been handed a timescale of when they are likely to begin performances again.

Festival bosses in Edinburgh, where all internationally-acclaimed summer events have been scrapped due to the pandemic, have warned MSPs that any plans to reopen venues with social distancing measures in place should include “an exploration of either reduced or relaxed social distancing measures”.

READ MORE: 'Barrowlands won’t be allowed to die – we'll be back'

In evidence submitted to Holyrood’s culture committee, the Edinburgh International Festival added that this relaxation should be “coupled with the creation of a comprehensive set of guidance and equipment to enable venues to stage mass gatherings safely”.

The organisation has warned that ticket prices for cultural events could soar to mitigate costs and lack of revenue for venues.

They added: “This may require help with the additional costs of staging safe events, including extra security and stewarding, pre-event checks, accommodation and equipment costs, and increased labour costs. These costs may amount to several pounds per attendee, an additional burden that will be impossible for nearly all venues in the sector to absorb.

“Therefore, it may be necessary to establish a subsidy for social measures, recognising venues can only operate at 20-30% capacity at two metres distancing and 30-40% at just one metre.”

Music venues in particular will struggle to make enough money to be viable with any sort of social distancing being required.

Mark Davyd, chief executive of the Music Venue Trust, said: “The issue of the additional cost per attendee is certainly a concern and needs addressing.

“We would highlight that at one metre, social distancing grass-roots music venues that are able to open, which is approximately one third of the spaces, can operate at an average 31% capacity. Operating at these capacities requires not only investment in those able to attend, but also in meeting the challenges presented by losing 69% of available income on each event.

READ MORE: The Glaswegians aiming to turn the Gallowgate into the 'new Finnieston'

“Most events will simply not be commercially viable without significant subsidy in a sector in which profit margins were already very low.”

The Barrowland in Glasgow has previously warned that social distancing at the venue, with a capacity of 1,900, is a “total nightmare”.

The Scottish Government has handed over £2.2 million to grassroots music venues to keep them afloat until October, but no further support has been promised. Ministers have also made a £10m pot of funding available for performing arts venues that have been hit by lockdown.

The Musicians’ Union has told MSPs that the live music scene “has been temporarily wiped out by social distancing and urgently needs support”.

The organisation added: “Despite much in the way of plans and guidance being developed for what a ‘safe’ return may look like, the reality is that it is unlikely to be economically viable for many live venues to open under social distancing guidance.”

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra has warned that once performances are able to restart, “it is likely that any continued social distancing requirements will impact the size of orchestra we can field”.

Theatres across Scotland have been severely impacted by lockdown – with the Tron Theatre in Glasgow predicting it will lose up to £725,000 this year.

At the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh, £25m renovation plans are now under threat – with £6m of the funding set to come from a levy on non-existent ticket sales.

Fiona Gibson, chief executive of Capital Theatres said the project is now at risk as “a large element of the fund will likely be repurposed for the organisation’s survival”.

She added: “In our view there is no such thing as a socially distant theatre.

“For the last 1,500 years, people have got together to share the same experience in the same space at the same time. Theatre buildings are designed on that premise.

“To have performers socially distant would demand creation from scratch of an entirely new repertoire of work right across all performance genres.”

She added: “For obvious reasons large gatherings were first to close down, in the same vein we anticipate theatres to be the last to open up again.

“From having spoken to our network of venue operators across the country, the general consensus, at this point in time, is that March or April 2021 is the most likely date for the theatre industry to restart.”

“Margins for Capital Theatres, as a large-scale commercial operator, are tight. The success of our business model requires in the region of 400,000 audience visitors per year. Our ability to continue trading with what, at best, could be 10-15% capacity in our auditoriums, allowing for distancing, simply does not stack up. The recovery timescale for theatre is clearly going to be longer than some sectors. We are still in crisis and will be until we can recover audiences and move forwards into adaptation and then recovery.”