After a year of uncertainty and hundreds of canceled and postponed concerts, artists will be able to return to the stage from Wednesday, but with a drastically reduced gauge.

A puzzle for the organizers, who must choose between adding dates or reimbursing certain spectators.

After a year of uncertainty and hundreds of canceled shows, the artists are finally preparing to return to the stage from Wednesday.

But a puzzle remains to be solved for the organizers.

With a drastically reduced gauge, turners still have to adapt and choose between reimbursing certain spectators or welcoming all those who had reserved their tickets.

"We do not welcome the first 1,000 and leave all the others who have tickets at the door," sighs Mélanie Brelot, who works for See Tickets, a site for buying tickets for shows. 

65% of the usual tonnage

Between cancellations, postponements and health constraints, scheduling concerts is still complicated.

"It really takes a lot of work to contact all the venues, festivals, managers, artists and update the calendar as and when", she explains at the microphone of Europe 1. 

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Until the end of June, rooms can only accommodate 65% of their usual maximum capacity.

If a concert was sold out before the pandemic and is playing again, that means leaving spectators behind.

To solve the problem, Alain Souchon decided to play more, with four dates scheduled at the Palais des Sports in Paris at the end of June.

"We do it on a case-by-case basis"

Its turner, Pierre-Alexandre Vertadier, director of Décibels productions, also takes care of Louis Chedid and Kendji Girac, who will soon be back on the road.

"We insist a lot on the fact that most of the tickets bought will be valid. I hope that it will not last forever so we do more on a case-by-case basis," he says. 

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Others preferred to reimburse everyone and open a new ticket office, such as the Vieilles Charrues festival, which this year will welcome five times fewer festival-goers than usual.