PROVINCE OF UTRECHT – Nightclubs and discotheques will open their doors from next Saturday. Branch organization Nachtbelang and the Overleg Amsterdamse Clubs (OAC) say they are fed up that the cabinet’s plans to reopen society are not thinking about them. On February 12 they want to have clubs open all over the country.
De Helling in Utrecht is one of the nightclubs that will open. A number of local artists, such as Adjuma and Bastienne, will be on the pop stage on February 12 “to give them a helping hand”. The Amersfoortse Fluor also announces that it will participate in the action. Club Basis in the city says it still has doubts about participation.
TivoliVredenburg does not participate in De Nacht Staat Op, partly because, unlike nightclubs, the pop stage can partially open. “This signal is really for the nightclubs that have had to keep their doors closed for a long time. We are looking at how we can support them, but we are really giving the stage to the nightclubs.”
‘The sector is bleeding to death’
In principle, De Helling could open every week. “The agenda is full, because you don’t know where you stand,” says Dance Promoter Lévi Smulders of the Utrecht pop stage. “You just have to plan ahead.”
And that is precisely the problem, says Smulders: the night sector does not know where it stands. “In December, it was promised that a long-term plan would be worked on to reopen as a society as a whole, and lastly also the nightlife and nightclubs.”
Smulders’ answers betray the frustration: time and again nightlife is skipped when relaxation is made. “We have been patient for two years, because the pandemic has rightly been handled with care. But the patience has run out because there really has to be a long-term plan.”
Smulders sums up: the sector is bleeding to death, employees are looking for other work with perspective. The social impact of an absent night is great: the night is more than “going out stupid”. It is a flourishing cultural sector in which young people also set up a social network. “Something that has been built up for decades is in danger of disappearing.”
Control during nightlife
According to a spokesperson for the campaign, the aim is to bring clubs back to the attention. “We notice that that is not happening at all and that just hurts after being closed for two years. With the action we want to show ourselves how we can open safely again,” said the spokesman.
The spokesman says that the public of nightclubs now visit each other at other locations and parties. “We can do that much more safely with security guards, bar staff and a good extraction system.” The intention is that during the night of the promotion, the corona admission ticket (CTB) will be checked.
About with The Hague
The sector will continue to consult with the Ministry of Economic Affairs on Monday. According to the ministry, this is about “collecting input to take with you to the weighing moment for the cabinet”. According to a spokesperson, no decision will be made about the use of 1G in nightlife, with all visitors being tested. Minister Ernst Kuipers said last week that he wanted to investigate in the House of Representatives whether the night catering industry could open with the so-called 1G policy.
According to the current rules, the catering industry must close at 10 p.m. and a seat is mandatory.
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