A PILOT MUSIC festival is due to take place at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham in Dublin today.

Some 3,500 people snapped up tickets for the concert within minutes when they went on sale last month.

Rapid antigen testing will be provided for attendees prior to entry to confirm they don’t have Covid-19.

Gavin James, Denise Chaila, Lyra, Sharon Shannon, Wyvern Lingo and Wild Youth are due to perform. The Irish podcast duo The Two Johnnies will host the gig, which is due to begin at 3.30pm.

The event will take place on the grounds of the Irish Museum of Modern Art and is the first Irish music festival to take place in 16 months.

Concertgoers will be in pods of four or six people and social distancing of one metre will apply.

Announcing details of the gig last month, Minister for Arts Catherine Martin said: “The purpose of these events is to build to road back to the safe and full recovery of live music and sporting events and establish a confidence in the guidance and event management protocols developed for the sector.”

The minister said she is determined to see live music and the arts recover and reopen and that this pilot event is a step in the right direction.

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Around 500 healthcare workers and their friends received a reserved allocation of tickets as a special thank you for their work during the pandemic, Martin said.

Many annual Irish festivals have been cancelled this year due to the pandemic.

Electric Picnic organisers announced last month that they still plan to run the festival – but the dates have been pushed back to 24-26 September.