In Lyon, the nightlife takes a hit with the closing of nightclubs |
Reopened for five months after being forced to lower the curtain for 16 months due to the health crisis linked to Covid-19, nightclubs are again forced to turn off the lights and mute the sound as of this Friday December 10 in the face of the outbreak of the epidemic. In Lyon, the actors of the night accuse the blow after a “cruel decisionThat they saw coming.
The last establishments to reopen in July 2021, nightclubs are the first to bear the brunt of the advance of the 5th wave of Covid-19. From this December 10, nightclubs must indeed cut the music and lower the curtain at least until January 6, inclusive, in accordance with the new anti-Covid measures announced by the government on Monday.
A “cruel decision“, asserts Thierry Fontaine, the boss of the Loft Club and of the Enjoy Club, two establishments of the 7th arrondissement, who is moved that the government has left little room for discussions while the profession performs approximately”20% of its turnover in December and New Years“. Warned a few hours before the announcements of Jean Castex, the one who is president in the Rhône of the Union of trades in industry and hospitality (Umih) and the night branch of the organization at the national level, castigates a “political decision and not at all health“.
A sudden stop
To hear it, nightclubs are the “communication scapegoat, that is to say that if the government communicates on this it will push the French to pay attention. But I would really like to know the impact that the closure of 1,200 nightclubs [au niveau national, NDLR] going to have on the epidemic.“In Lyon, the professionals blame the blow all the more as the environment was just starting to regain its cruising speed,”on was going for the best “, Confirms Thierry Fontaine,”it was back to how it was before “, abounds Heni Chaussedent, the manager of Maison M, in the 1st arrondissement.
“We are told a closing at the last moment for 3 days later“,
Benjamin Roche boss of the Petit Salon
However, the Prime Minister’s announcement was not that much of a surprise in the Capital of Gaul. “We suspected it a bit so we started to change our way of working by booking the artists rather at the last moment, whereas normally we create our programming between 3 and 6 months in advance.“, admits Benjamin Roche, owner of the Petit Salon, a club in the 7th arrondissement on the border between the nightclub and the concert hall.
What rather likes the amazement in the medium is the speed of the measurement. “We are told a closing at the last moment for 3 days later“, moved Benjamin Roche. Before adding”it’s a real disaster we already had DJs, fees, flights, hotels, a lot of expenses which were paid and reserved until January 15th “.
A strict health protocol
To justify its decision, the government declared earlier this week “we do this because the virus circulates a lot among young people, even vaccinated, because wearing a mask is extremely difficult in these establishments“. A speech that the owner of the Petit Salon can hear, moreover he readily admits”there are places that are extremely risky, because closed, people are on top of each other and as soon as they have drunk a little, barrier gestures no longer exist. Within the club we can understand that there is a difference between going to a nightclub with a health pass and going shopping, the proximity is not the same.“.
“It’s still quite naive to think that because you close the boxes the party will end“, Thierry Fontaine, president of the night branch of Umih at the national level and owner of nightclubs in Lyon
However, the whole profession is not so measured. For his part, Thierry Fontaine believes that certainly the “people are very close in nightclubs, but no less and no more than in a bar or a private party. It’s still quite naive to think that because you close the boxes the party will end“, laughs the departmental president of Umih. On the other hand, the various actors with whom we were able to exchange agree without problem to recall that since the reopening everything has been put in place to apply a strict sanitary protocol.
Ventilation, CO2 sensors, surface disinfection, sanitary pass and identity document control to prevent customers from entering with a pass that is not theirs, everything has been respected according to them, “it cost us a lot of money“.”We have always played the game by saying to ourselves that it was our means of survival, after that I do not allow myself to judge if it works or not, if the government did well or not, but it is a little weird to say that the only ones penalized are those who control the health pass the best“, lets go Benjamin Roche. What moreover makes Thierry Fontaine say, bitter, that he”there is nothing sanitary in this choice“.
“We have always played the game by saying that it was our means of survival”,
Benjamin Roche boss of the Petit Salon
Partial unemployment and fixed costs
While everyone has little illusion about a reopening in early January, even if Emmanuel Macron has assured that he wants to reopen “as quickly as possible“, the fact of knowing that the staff will be compensated by partial unemployment has something chosen to reassure. For the small living room which counts about sixty employees, including 35 direct jobs, it is even a relaxation, they”will not be penalized “.
On the other hand, after only five months of opening, the concern is about the part of the support to the companies, “it’s quite limited, they give us enough to survive. We won’t have the cash advance we have to make for the more difficult months», Comments Benjamin Roche.
“It’s quite limited, they give us something to survive. We won’t have the cash advance we have to make for the more difficult months”
Benjamin Roche boss of the Petit Salon
For other establishments like Maison M, the situation is even more vague. On the border between a bar and a nightclub, this “musical bar” which has made a name for itself in the 1st arrondissement is not subject to closure. From this Friday, December 10, the managers of the establishment only have the right to let their customers dance and have therefore planned to install tables and chairs in their concert hall.
Optimism despite a blurred future
Saturday, an attended event is organized with a DJ. However, Heni Chaussedent, the manager of the premises, does not seem very optimistic about the success of this measure, already experienced before. “It was bad, that’s not what we like to do and we ended up closing because there was no point in policing our customers “, explains the one who is considering lowering the curtain in the coming days and putting his staff on leave. Because if customers can no longer dance in music bars, the latter not being affected by the closing of nightclubs, they are not “no longer by the aid granted to discotheques “, he warns.
Despite this sudden halt and the economic difficulties to come, Benjamin Roche is trying to remain optimistic and hang on to the fact that when “recovery there will be, it will be very beautiful. The past few weeks have shown that customers are highly motivated to party. It is not because we close once more that we are doomed to disappear “, he assures. It only remains to be seen how long this interruption of the party will last, while in 2020 fifteen days of closure had turned into 16 months of shutdown.