HockeyFest going ahead, Rock the Park postponed again

HockeyFest a go, Rock the Park on hold again From CTV London's Jordyn Read – The world's largest street festival will be using new technology to keep the playing field safe.

London, Ont. — HockeyFest - Game On! has announced it will hold in-person events, starting in London next month, while Rock the Park has been postponed for another year.

The street hockey festival saw record numbers take part during the 2020 fundraiser in London, despite the pandemic.

‘We’re rolling out a nine-city North American tour, and in the crazy times we're in we thought what better place to start than in our hometown of London,” said Brad Jones, president of HockeyFest - Game On.

Organizers say strict COVID-19 protocols will be in place for the events, the first of which will be held in London at the Westmount Shopping Centre from June 25 to 27.

HockeyFest is partnering PredictMedix Inc. and Juiceworks for 'Safe Entry Stations' to screen all players, staff and visitors.

Jones says they are very excited with the partnership.

“The artificial intelligence algorithm they have developed is going to be one of the key components in ensuring the safety of all our players and spectators at each of our events. Travelling with the Safe Entry Systems has given us the opportunity to work with each local health unit in a much more diverse way than your standard contract tracing."

If you enter the scanner and you see a green light flash, you are allowed to enter the event. If you see a red light you will have to undergo on-site COVID-19 testing.

If positive, you will have to isolate at home.

"So it's actually looking at the eye, and the same time the overall graphic profile of your face. And thats how it's making a judgement to see if someone is running an elevated temperature. Usually when someone has headaches there's a distinct pattern that shows up above the eye that's being captured and analyzed by AI to identify if someone is having symptoms or not,” says Dr. Rahul Kushwah, COO of Predictmedix Inc.

Even with the new system in place, the event will operate under orange-restrict or even stricter guidelines.

I’m a Monday media briefing, Middlesex-London’s medical officer of health, Dr. Chris Mackie, said he has not yet been consulted on the technology, but adds that he is happy to see more technology become available.

More dates, locations and details are available here.

Rock the Park postponed

At the same time Jones Entertainment, which also organizes Start.ca Rocks the Park, announced the event has been postponed to July 13 to 16, 2022.

However, organizers will be offering a 'Dinner Series' called Road to Rock the Park through July and August, which is a series of shows with a maximum capacity of 100 people each.

Artists include Tim Hicks, Duelling Pianos and The Trews. Tickets go on sale Wednesday here.

Those with tickets to the 2021 show can submit refund requests if they want here by June 30. Otherwise tickets will be valid for the 2022 show.

- With files from CTV News London's Amanda Taccone