Saturday evening, 6.30pm. At the D! Club, the disco balls are already shimmering. Behind the turntables, a masked DJ is churning out hip-hop hits, but the dancefloor is still empty. This weekend, like many other nightclubs in French-speaking Switzerland, D! reopened its doors for the first time under the restricted opening hours required by the Federal Council - from 6pm to midnight.
After the reception and security staff had taken their temperature (using a contactless thermometer), and checked that they had downloaded the traceability application required by the establishment, the first revellers trickled in. Three foreign students who had come to celebrate a birthday timidly took to the dancefloor, soon to be joined by a group of friends, determined to take advantage of the free entry until 7pm - and to enjoy the evening. It doesn't matter how small the crowd, I've come to dance, I've missed it," says one young woman between songs. What I'm really looking forward to is getting back to normal.
Alternative plan
But "normal" is not exactly the word nightclub professionals would use. Since the Confederation authorised the reopening of nightclubs on 27 May, many have been complaining that the conditions under which they are being reopened are unacceptable and even dangerous.
See also our editorial: Deconfinement: relaxation subject to conditions
At first, the 2m distance between each dancer was strongly criticised - how could the soul of clubbing survive it? - before being relaxed. PromoterSuisse, the umbrella organisation for music event promoters, took the initiative and drew up an alternative protection plan (neither approved nor rejected by the FOPH), which was adopted by most establishments. As well as maintaining social distancing (drinks can also be consumed standing up), the plan requires the data of 300 party-goers to be collected at the door - they will thus be warned if a case of Covid-19 occurs within 14 days, and potentially subjected to quarantine. Some of the clubs are refusing to be tracked and are putting up a fight. And let's not forget the most controversial issue: the midnight closing time. Can night owls really be motivated to go out earlier?
Postponing the problem
"There's no way it's going to work when it's warm and sunny," says Thierry Namer, Folklor's manager. If the club, located on the Place de la Riponne, sold out when it reopened on 6 June, it's because it was able to count on fans of electronic music, its speciality, but also on the gloomy weather, he believes. "When the weather's fine, people will logically prefer to go out and play sport or meet their friends on the terrace at these times. So despite ourselves, we're becoming competition for bars and cafés.
Competition is not always welcome. In Geneva, the Baroque Restaurant, for example, has partially resumed service, but not the affiliated discotheque on Place de la Fusterie: the new opening hours would require a change of concept, points out the group's general manager, Julien Torrado. "Modify our menu by offering dishes, but also change the prices, because drinks are traditionally more expensive in a club."
Reservations, frustrations, incomprehension too. Like that of Thierry Wegmüller, a member of the Rencontres La Belle Nuit committee, which works to improve the quality of nightlife in Lausanne. The man who also runs the D! Club and ABC is convinced that closing at midnight only postpones the problem. "In reality, clubbers go out in frustration and continue to party on the public highway or at private parties, where there is no sanitary framework. This leads to complaints of night-time disturbance, as was the case in Geneva on the opening weekend," he notes. And when you see that the casinos have reopened until 3am, with thousands of people lining the streets, there's something irrational about these measures.
"Lack of confidence
Thierry Wegmüller, like other nightclub managers, regrets a lack of listening and even consideration from the nightlife world. "We have a tendency to blame them for all the ills, but we shouldn't underestimate our social role. There's a real need among the population to get out and about, and without the festivals this summer, I think it will go from strength to strength."
Some simply denounce a lack of knowledge of the industry. "Why the midnight limit? Perhaps they have the impression that we have orgies from 1am onwards," quips Zabou Elisabeth Jaquet, co-president of the Grand Conseil de la Nuit, an association promoting nightlife culture in Geneva. "We don't understand this lack of confidence, given the prevention efforts our members put in place throughout the year." All of its members - some twenty bars and clubs, including Audio, Usine and Chat Noir - have decided to remain closed.
Another complaint is the ten-day delay between the Federal Council's announcement and the actual reopening of the clubs. "This gives very little credit to the organisation of our events. A good programme takes several months to prepare," adds Zabou Elisabeth Jaquet. Live music concerts, in particular, have become complex to organise in view of cancelled tours. "For our members, it simply didn't make sense to open now," she sums up.
Financial pressure
For others, despite the acrobatic conditions, relaunching the machine is a question of survival. It's a way of mopping up the fixed costs that continue to fall. All the more so as, depending on the canton, nightclubs do not receive any subsidies. "In Fribourg, because they are set up as SA or Sàrl, the clubs are not considered to be part of the cultural world. Yet we have a programme, DJs and comedy shows," points out Stéphane Jaton, manager of the Crapule Club. A request for financial support, in conjunction with other establishments in Fribourg, has so far gone unanswered.
Their hopes are now pinned on the announcements on 24 June, which could include a potential easing of the measures. For Stéphane Jaton, however, there is no question of waiting until then to revise his formula: the Crapule Club will offer a cocktail bar in the greenery of a park all summer long.
Source: Le Temps Virginie Nussbaum
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