WHAT PANDEMIC?

South Carolina Hotel Hosts 500-Person Rave Approved by State Despite COVID

The event sold out, and photos show revelers packed together.

A South Carolina hotel hosted a 500-person rave Saturday that had been approved by state regulators despite the raging COVID-19 pandemic. Revelers gathered at the Embassy Suites’ grand ballroom in North Charleston for the Alice Rave Wonderland Festival, which had received the go-ahead from the state’s Department of Commerce. The venue typically holds 2,500 people, and attendees were encouraged to stay six feet apart from each other, though photos show that they did not. Masks and temperature checks were required, though event organizer Brian Lonie told the Post & Courier, “masks were taken off from time to time… Of course, it is hard to breathe when dancing.” Similar events elsewhere in the country have resulted in widespread infections.