xoxo/covid

Our COVID policy, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license

COVID

This is a living policy, subject to continual refinement and expansion. Last updated May 26, 2024.

Everyone attending XOXO is required to agree to the following COVID policy. This includes all attendees, speakers, performers, patrons (sponsors), volunteers, and staff.

Anyone who violates our COVID policy may be removed from the festival at the discretion of the XOXO organizers.

If you have questions about this policy, or suggestions for ways it might be improved, please contact us at [email protected].

Masking

All XOXO attendees are required to wear a high-quality mask at all times while inside our venues, including Revolution Hall, Show Bar, all common areas inside Washington High, and the reserved seating area at the Park Stage, as well as at any event on our schedule where masks are required.

Masks should be N95, KN95, or KF94 (or equivalent government standard), cover the nose and mouth completely, and worn properly while inside our venues. Disposable “paper” surgical masks, masks with exhalation valves, and cloth masks are not permitted.

Masks are not required outside, including in Washington High Park and the Show Bar patio. Our speakers, performers, and hosts are also required to wear a high-quality mask backstage, but will not be required to wear masks while presenting.

Each XOXO Social event on our schedule will include specific details for mask requirements, capacity, and availability of outdoor seating.

Pass Types

This year we’re offering two pass types, a Theater Pass and a Park Pass.

A Theater Pass gives you access to seating inside our main venue, Revolution Hall, allowing you to watch our main stage programming. You should purchase a Theater Pass if you’re comfortable sitting inside in a large group, wearing a high-quality mask.

A Park Pass gives you access to the reserved seating area at the Park Stage, inside the tent in Washington High Park, where you can watch a live stream of our main stage programming. You should purchase a Park Pass if you are more comfortable sitting in a well-ventilated space outside with a smaller group, wearing a high-quality mask.

Read more about our Pass Types and How Registration Works.

Testing

Attendees are asked to monitor their health leading up to the festival, and are encouraged to test with an at-home antigen or rapid test before traveling to Portland. While in Portland, we recommend taking a COVID test before coming to the venue each day.

Under no circumstances should you attend XOXO if you test positive for COVID, or have any other reason to believe you may be ill or contagious.

Vaccination

Attendees are encouraged to stay up to date with their COVID vaccinations and boosters.

Due to the changes over time in the relevance of vaccination status in risk calculation, we will not be checking vaccination status at XOXO.

No Roll Back

This COVID policy is a living policy, and may receive clarifying edits between now and the festival. However, we will not remove or downgrade any aspect of our COVID policy between our launch announcement and the dates of the festival.

License

This policy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, and is available on GitHub. We encourage other events to adopt (and enforce) similar policies by using and remixing ours.

This policy was based on similar policies shared by the Brooklyn Art Book Fair, InterConnect, and PyCon US, as well as resources provided by the People’s CDC.