Discos, big forgotten in the deconfinement plan?

To hope to dance until dawn in a nightclub, you will have to take your pain patiently. While Emmanuel Macron unveiled the contours of the deconfinement calendar, last week, no reopening date was mentioned for the discos, the head of state only specifying that they remained closed.

If restaurants, museums, cinemas or concert halls begin to organize the recovery, the 1,600 French nightclubs will remain closed until further notice, to the dismay of the players in the sector who speak of “injustice”. “.

No prospect for the sector

Closed for a year and a half, the night establishments impatiently awaited Emmanuel Macron’s speech last Thursday to know their fate, but the head of state gave no prospect of reopening for the discotheques. “In his speech, the president did not mention the nightlife at all, we simply have the impression that we do not count or that we do not exist,” said Thomas Bretey, founder of My French DJ, a DJ booking agency and of the “Stay open” collective, adding: “Night establishments do not see the end of the tunnel. They have no perspective, no visibility over the next three or six months. “” We were told “you remain closed, period, that’s how it is”, without any reason and without any prospect “, deplores for his part Thierry Fontaine, president of the night branch of
Union of Hospitality Trades and Industries (UMIH).

Unlike restaurants which were able to reopen last April, before closing their doors in the fall, nightclubs have been completely closed since March 2020, placing thousands of workers in the sector unemployed. Despite the aid and the solidarity fund, deemed insufficient by the unions, some establishments have gone out of business. According to Thierry Fontaine, since the start of the health crisis, 160 night establishments have already closed, a hundred have been placed in recovery, “not counting those who gave up.” “There are about fifteen nightclub managers who have committed suicide since the start of the crisis, it’s dramatic,” adds Thomas Bretey. “There is misunderstanding, we are disappointed not to have been consulted, disappointed that we do not trust us. We are at the end of the line, we oscillate between sadness, anger and the desire to get our life back, ”warns Thierry Fontaine.

Unfavorable treatment

While the doors to nightclubs will remain closed, those to museums or concert halls should reopen in the coming weeks. From June 9, places of culture – museums, cinemas, theaters – and sports establishments will be able to accommodate up to 5,000 people with the health pass. A misunderstanding for the actors of the night sector: “We are going to organize concerts for 5,000 people, but we are forbidden to accommodate 300 people in a nightclub? It’s illogical, but it’s mostly unfair, ”Thomas Bretey lashes out. “In a concert, you dance, you sing, you drink. What’s the difference with a nightclub? On the one hand, you have a band, on the other, a DJ. That’s the only difference, ”summarizes Thierry Fontaine.

The president of the night branch of the UMIH asks that nightclubs be treated like other establishments: “Of the 1,600 nightclubs in France, 900 have a capacity of less than 300 people. Only 40 establishments can accommodate more than 1,000 people. If it is a question of gauge, it does not hold. “According to him, recent studies have shown that good ventilation is more effective than social distancing in limiting contamination:” In night establishments, smoke extraction systems are compulsory. In my nightclub, with this system, the air is completely renewed every eight minutes. We are among the best ventilated places, I don’t understand, ”he points out.

A health pass to go dancing?

For the unions in the sector, the reopening of nightclubs could also put an end to private or illegal parties, sometimes vectors of contamination or clusters: “The closure of nightclubs has given rise to private parties, groupings in apartments. much smaller and much less airy than a nightclub. We must stop being naive, ”denounces Thierry Fontaine, who affirms that the players in the sector have already proposed several health protocols to the government.

The sector would even be ready to set up a health pass, as will be the case for stadiums, festivals, fairs or exhibitions: “We think that discotheques are places of perdition, that we will not be able to manage them. gauges, barrier gestures, health protocol, but this is not true. “

The industry is hoping the government will follow the UK’s lead. This weekend, 3,000 people gathered at a Liverpool nightclub for two mask-less test nights. Participants were required to test negative to enter the club and will be tested in several days. In Barcelona, ​​another test concert by rock gathered 5,000 masked spectators, but without distance. More than a month after the event, there has been “no sign” of contagion with the coronavirus, organizers said last Tuesday.

“These different tests show that if things are done intelligently, there is no contamination,” says Thomas Bretey. On May 29, it will be France’s turn to organize a test concert at the AccorHotel Arena, bringing together 5,000 people, with the group Indochine. According to the Sunday newspaper, Emmanuel Macron should attend. A small ray of hope for the players in the nightlife sector?