Discos and nightclubs are allowed to open their doors on September 25, provided they close again at midnight like other catering establishments.
“Absurd,” was the criticism. “Then clubs will in fact remain closed,” said Koninklijke Horeca Nederland (KHN), because anyone who enters a disco before midnight usually finds an empty dance floor there – and therefore no turnover. A lawsuit filed by the trade association this week also did not change the cabinet’s plans.
But nightclubs don’t seem to catch up. “Then peak early,” says programmer Michiel Peeters of music center TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht. “Can’t it be after midnight? Then in the early evening. We already have eight dance evenings in the agenda from 7.30 pm to midnight. A number of them are already sold out. People need the dance floor.”
Dance till your feet hurt, and still get to bed on time. Outgoing minister De Jonge responded positively to this new entertainment phenomenon on Friday after the Council of Ministers. “Fine. Just do it.” He did emphasize that visitors need a corona ticket and that locations can use up to 75 percent of their room capacity.
Twitter reacts positively to ‘early peaks’:
Early parties in clubs and discotheques are on the agenda throughout the country from September 25. In the Klokgebouw in Eindhoven, a location where 10,000 visitors can normally party, a dance party for 7,000 people will be held on September 25. From 13:00 in the afternoon. Normally the event is called night lecture, now it’s a day lecture. Organizer Joost Holthuizen: “On the day of the press conference, we saw ticket sales skyrocket and we sold 600 tickets within a few hours.”
Hicham Laaboudi (23) is one of the partygoers. He can’t wait: “With thousands of people, it’s better than just being at home with your speaker. I last partied a month ago, I went to Berlin especially for that. They held parties for vaccinated people there. It was surreal, as usual. And nice to meet people outside your own circle.”
Although Laaboudi is happy that partying is almost possible again, he does not always want to ‘peak early’ in the end. “I associate the night more with leisure. The day more with school and work.”
Lasting trend?
Even so, according to behavioral psychologist Sabine Jansen, partying in daylight has become more accepted since the increasing popularity of festivals. But is it a lasting trend? “I think the night culture never really disappears. The feeling of togetherness in a dark club is greater than on a sun-drenched terrace. Boundaries fade in the dark, especially under the influence of alcohol.”
People are more likely to approach a complete stranger in a club than in the supermarket, says Jansen. “And that’s exactly what we need after corona: getting to know new people.”
Not only for the nightlife, the event industry and party lovers also took to the streets last weekend to demonstrate for the reopening of the sector:
Anke Straten, club manager of Bret in Amsterdam, finds day parties even more fun than the night. “At night people start drinking. During the day the atmosphere is more relaxed with us. We also organize ‘early peak parties’, and they are all sold out.”
Night programmer Peeters from Tivoli thinks that the enthusiasm for early parties will continue to exist after corona. “Yes, there is now more room for evening dancing. But if you’re 18 or a student, you don’t want to dance between the forties.” So the night returns as soon as the cabinet allows. Peeters: “Yes, there’s something magical about you dancing while the rest of the world is asleep.”