Residents, Restaurant Owners Excited As Full Capacity Games At Fenway Park Begin Saturday
BOSTON (CBS) - This is the last week of mask mandates and strict pandemic restrictions in Massachusetts. As many as 38,000 people could be at Fenway Park once the state opens up on Saturday.
The parts of pandemic living we've grown used to, like QR codes instead of menus, constant mask-wearing, having to order food every time you get a drink, are expiring in just five days.
"I'm feeling very hopeful," one woman said. "Fenway's gonna have that spirit back and that aliveness."
"Just being able to like full capacity, go to games. Just being able to go to clubs and stuff, just back to normal," said Mohammed Eid. "It's crazy, it's about time.
The state is set to fully reopen ,with vaccinated people free to take off their masks on Saturday. That applies to nearly 3.5 million people in Massachusetts, and more than 4.3 million are well on their way to getting vaccinated.
The state will celebrate its reopening with a bang. A full capacity, mask-free Red Sox game at Fenway Park Saturday afternoon.
Tickets are on sale for the whole ballpark, and starting to resemble pre-pandemic pricing.
"It's huge. It's huge for us. It's everything we've always done and we want to get back to it," said Joe Hicks, General Manager of Game On Fenway. "It's the perfect storm of getting people to one area. It's going to test us and we just have to be prepared. I guess we just ask guests to be understanding, that we're just getting warmed up."
At GameOn Fenway, staff will keep their masks on but patrons can take them off as the bar prepares for its biggest day since 2019.
Some pandemic rules will remain in place, like wearing masks when you ride any public transportation.
