Venue owners dismiss 10pm closing time as 'extension of lockdown'

The hospitality and cultural sectors have criticised the government’s relaxation of the lockdown rules for not going far enough. The association of concert halls, VSCD, said the 10pm closing time for theatres meant they were still not able to ‘offer the public a full-fledged night out’, while cinema owners said the ‘earlier delight at the relaxation has been completely overshadowed by disbelief at the announced restrictions.’ Sanne Wallis de Vries and Diederik Ebbinge, who organised the ‘Kapsalon Theater’ protest last week in which theaters opened as makeshift hairdressers, said the limited audiences and opening times would make it economically unviable for many venues to open. — Diederik Ebbinge January 24, 2022 Musical producer Stage Entertainment Nederland also said most shows would lose money if they could only fill 30% of seats. ‘This “relaxation” doesn’t take us a step further and effectively means an extension of the lockdown,’ said director Walter Drenth. ‘We hope the cabinet will quickly come round to a different point of view.’ Cost to business Research published in the Telegraaf newspaper calculated that businesses had lost several billion euros collectively since the latest restrictions were imposed in November.