The theaters and cinema will remain closed during the end of year celebrations.

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Bruno / Germany / Pixabay

  • "The game is therefore far from won," said Jean Castex, in the preamble to the announcements of the measures on Thursday.

  • The Prime Minister announced "stricter rules" than expected, including the closure of places open to the public until January 7.

  • The reactions of cultural professionals, who were ready to reopen on December 15.

Will there be Christmas at Christmas?

The French were hanging on the lips of Prime Minister Jean Castex this Thursday to find out what it would be possible or not to do from December 15.

"The situation has improved considerably in recent weeks, but it has stalled in recent days," began Jean Castex.

With some "11,000 contaminations per day", according to Olivier Veran, France is clearly far from the 5,000 daily cases wanted by Emmanuel Macron to move to deconfinement.

"On December 15, we will move to a new stage, but the rules will be stricter," Jean Castex immediately warned.

Cultural and sporting venues closed until January 7

Cinemas, theaters and concert halls "will remain closed" until January 7, as will "sports grounds, circuses, zoos or even gaming rooms and casinos".

Bars and restaurants will remain closed until January 20.

“It’s sad and sad!

We wanted to believe it until the last moment.

We do not prepare the reopening of a theater overnight ”, reacts Christophe Segura, director of the Comédie-Bastille.

In his theater, the actors were rehearsing, the staff on the war footing and the ticket office, already open.

"It's particularly difficult for our sector, restaurants can do take-out," he continues.

The misunderstanding is general in the culture sector, which has particularly ensured compliance with health rules when they reopen between the two confinements.

"The theaters have ensured the strict application of health protocols", emphasizes Christophe Segura.

“The theater operators have been exemplary and there has been no outbreak of contagion in the cinema.

We were ready to accept all the rules, ”insists Claude-Eric Poiroux, Managing Director of Europa Cinemas (an organization supporting the distribution and exploitation of European cinema) and operator of the arthouse cinema Les 400 Coups. in Angers.

“We had not planned to reopen on December 15 because given the configuration of our barge, it does not make sense to hold seated concerts with us.

It's contradictory to our activity, we do

live

and in essence, it's a contact activity.

A concert where one is distanced, it is not the same vibration ”, launches for its part, Enora Leroux, co-founder of Metaxu, independent concert hall on the water in Pantin.

The entrepreneur, who launched her activity in October 2019, was particularly attentive to the announcement of the continuation of aid measures for the sector.

"If we do not have the aid of the solidarity fund, we will no longer exist very quickly", she confides.

A Christmas in a small group

A “strictly controlled” curfew will be introduced from 8 p.m. throughout the country, with the exception of the night of December 24 to 25.

If "the rules for places of worship will not be revised upwards", the Prime Minister authorizes travel for the evening of December 24 and again recommends bringing together for Christmas "no more than six adults at a time".

He also recommended to "limit" interactions during "the previous 5 days" in order to preserve the elderly or vulnerable to the coronavirus.

“Jean Castex explained that he wanted to preserve the Christmas tradition, that we needed Christmas, but during the holidays, the cinema room, which is not a source of contamination, also allows us to keep a spirit of party, and it is less dangerous to watch a masked film, with the right distances than to have a family meal, to go shopping or to cross France by TGV, ”comments Claude-Eric Poiroux.

"I understand the reason for these sanitary measures, but I dare not imagine that it is possible to live for a long time in this way, without cultural places, without these places of life, contacts and links.

It's very complicated, ”recalls Enora Leroux.

"It's sad a closed theater, it's a place of life where you come to share emotions", adds Christophe Segura, who recalls that the end of the year celebrations "are the best period for theaters. .

People traditionally go out a lot to see a play on December 31 ”.

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  • Covid 19

  • Confinement

  • Society

  • Coronavirus

  • Jean Castex

  • Theater

  • Culture