Met Gala and Sundance Film Festival set vaccination requirements for all guests

As events get back on track, organisers are getting tough on entry restrictions

Bella Hadid in a custom-made Chrome Hearts gown at the 2018 Met Gala. EPA

The Met Gala, one of fashion’s biggest events, is set to return in September after a year off, and organisers have revealed this year’s must-have accessory: a vaccine.

All guests at the annual gala, hosted by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Vogue, will be required to show proof of their vaccination status in order to attend.

"Currently, all attendees at The Met Gala on September 13 must provide proof of full vaccination and will also be expected to wear masks indoors except when eating or drinking," a representative for The Met confirmed. "We will update these guidelines as needed."

The theme for this year’s gala, which has moved from its usual May date, is In America: A Lexicon of Fashion. The theme coincides with the museum’s next exhibition, Part one, In America: A Lexicon of Fashion, which will launch days later on September 18.

The second part of the exhibition, In America: An Anthology of Fashion, will launch in May 2022, when the gala will return to its usual slot on the first Monday in May.

Elsewhere, anyone looking to go to the Sundance Film Festival in Utah next year is going to need to be fully vaccinated too, festival director Tabitha Jackson said on Tuesday.

The 2022 festival requires people attending the festival or Sundance-affiliated events to have received a Covid-19 vaccine. That means everyone from volunteers to filmmakers and passholders.

Following the largely virtual Sundance earlier in 2021, organisers are planning to hold in-person events in 2022 with screenings in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, as well as some “satellite” screenings at regional theatres throughout the US.

The 2022 festival is set to take place from Thursday to Sunday, January 20 to 30.