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Night establishments have been crowded since the end of the health pass on February 17. Partygoers and bosses are jubilant about this return to normal.
The year 2022 is shaping up rather well at La Gravière.
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The Java club has been packed every weekend since the relaxation of anti-Covid measures.
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Resonating basses, shaking walls and a faint smell of sweat that tickles the nose. Welcome to the nightclub. Plunged into darkness, Friday evening, the bodies moved to the rhythm of the music, in La Gravière, in the Acacias district. “The atmosphere is hot,” rejoiced Aless, an inveterate clubber.
Even when entry was by presentation of a health pass, the young man never stopped going dancing. But since February 17, the date which marked the end of the certificate, “people are much more zen with the Covid”. On the terrace of the neighboring club, La Parfumerie, Hugo was celebrating his 19th birthday with friends. An evening that had a taste of freedom. “We can finally breathe. It’s awesome.”
The return of the older
For the managers of night establishments too, the relaxation of the measures was a breath of fresh air. “We got the older customers back. Since then, we’ve been jam-packed every weekend,” exults Arnaud Daviaud, director of Java. This return to normal represents a 40% increase in the activities of this upscale club, located on Quai Wilson.
At the Moulin Rouge, in Plainpalais, the thirtysomethings have also made a comeback. But the boss, Jean-Marc Humberset, notes however that the over forty years, them, “have lost the habit of going out. They have adopted a new ritual which consists of returning around 11:30 p.m. after a restaurant or a drink in a bar. This does not prevent the club from running at full speed. Also positive results on the side of La Gravière. “We feel that there is a big motivation to come back and have fun. It portends a good year 2022”, noted its spokesperson, Marco Renna.
After two years of absence, difficult for some to get back into the swing of things. This was the case for Juliette on Friday evening at La Parfumerie. “I’m not used to seeing so many people and so many young people anymore,” the 29-year-old young woman told us. Despite “a benevolent atmosphere, I am lost. I don’t know how to interact anymore.
Other night owls, “who have lost their good manners”, give nightclubs a hard time. “They have forgotten how to behave in the evening and think they are at home. They have to be re-educated,” smiles Jean-Marc Humberset.
Heat, contact and flirting
At La Parfumerie, attendance has jumped by around 30% since the end of the Covid certificate. There, young people have taken possession of the premises and are having a great time. “Young people flirt with everything. It’s symptomatic of what we’ve been through. They want to take full advantage and get started more easily, ”explains the manager of the premises, Jeremy Verlooven. The revelers also found that “there is warmth” and “much more contact between people”.
“We have no particular increase in Covid cases among staff. We hope it will continue like this.” Like Marco Renna, most managers of nightlife venues make the same observation. Only one establishment has observed an upsurge in contamination among its staff members.