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UK musicians will be able to tour in 19 European countries without visa or permit

“We recognise challenges remain around touring, and we are continuing to work closely with the industry.”

Concert Crowd

Photo: Henrik Sorensen / Getty

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The UK government has announced that musicians and performers will be able to tour a number of European countries without a visa or work permit.

The announcement quashed concerns regarding rules introduced at the start of the year, which did not guarantee visa-free travel for performers. By June 2021, a total of 286,795 signatures were collected petitioning the government to secure visa-free travel for British touring artists.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said it reached an agreement with 19 EU member states to allow short tours of those countries without a visa.

Those countries include Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Sweden.

“We want the UK’s fantastic performers and other creative professionals to be able to tour abroad easily,” the DCMS said in a statement. “We recognise challenges remain around touring, and we are continuing to work closely with the industry.”

“We want to ensure that when Covid-19 restrictions are lifted, touring can resume and our world-leading creative and cultural artists can continue to travel widely, learning their craft, growing their audiences and showing the best of British creativity to the world.”

Talks are underway with eight remaining EU members – Spain, Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Bulgaria, Romania, Malta and Cyprus – to allow up to three months of visa-free travel for UK musicians.

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