New Orlando venue Vanguard to debut on Halloween weekend with 2-night outdoor show

It looks as though the long-dormant club space that now goes by the moniker Vanguard – once upon a time known as Firestone – is returning to life like a party Frankenstein on Halloween. But can event organizers pull off a large-scale dance event safely this weekend?

They do seem to be trying. The two-night, open-air affair dubbed Boo! Orlando 2020 will take place outdoors on Lot 54 of the Vanguard property, with social distancing promised – though sure to be a challenge to execute.

More concretely, event organizers do have a number of safety protocols at the ready: required mask-wearing, temperature checks upon entry, limited audience capacity, enhanced cleaning and private VIP viewing pods available for purchase.

And, even better, each ticketholder will be given a free mask and face-shield.

Par for the course for dance promoter Insomniac, the lineup is stacked with heavy-hitter DJs and EDM acts: Carnage, Loud Luxury, Saymyname, Atliens, Jinx, Valentino Khan, Nitti Gritti, Sloth and Schade.

Vanguard has been in the works for several years now – going back to the days of the short-lived Blackstar venue – and was (or "is," depending on how the live event landscape pans out next year) going to occupy the old Firestone building as a House of Blues-sized concert hall. When Blackstar folded in 2018 after a few months, construction continued quietly and very gradually on Vanguard.

Vanguard's big debut, then, will be outdoors on Lot 54, rather than inside a brand-new venue, but at this point in time, that's probably for the best.

Boo! Orlando 2020 goes down on Friday-Saturday, Oct. 30-31. Tickets can be purchased here.



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