After more than six months of negotiation and preparation, the Parisian test concert will finally take place on Saturday, with performances by Indochina and Etienne de Crécy. Between participant selection criteria, health constraints and programming, Europe 1 takes stock of this large-scale experiment, the aim of which is to consider the return of standing concerts.   

After Barcelona, ​​a test concert made in France will finally take place at the AccorHotels Arena on Saturday evening in Paris.

But more than a concert, with performances by DJ Etienne de Crécy (at 5 p.m.) and the Indochine group (at 6 p.m.), it will be a real scientific experiment with specific criteria.

Already, all the volunteers had to be between 18 and 45 years old, live in the Paris region and not have been in contact with a Covid-19 patient in the two weeks preceding the concert.

The AP-HP and the Prodiss (main live performance union), which coordinate the study, have selected 7,500. 

>> LIVE -

 Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation Saturday, May 29

"It reminds of the good old days of concerts!" 

The first step for them was to go to the AccorHotels Arena to get tested. Instead of spectators, the pit of the hall was filled with stands. "It is clearly the biggest test operation that we have had to do for a year. It looks like what we do every day but it is just multiplied", entrusts to Europe 1 Tayeb Tounsi, the one of the managers of Covisan, the AP-HP tracing and testing system.  

So the organization was military: after filling out a number of documents and doing an antigen test, Marion, a volunteer, had to wait for her results in the entrance to the AccorHotels Arena. In the background, Indochine, headliner of the test concert. “It's reminiscent of the good old days of concerts!” She jokes, her negative test in hand. Europe 1 noted that for many participants, taking part in this experiment represents a real civic gesture. And for Marion too: "I feel useful doing it. If that can speed things up so that we can all return to a room, that will be cool!" 

The concert-test takes place on Saturday but the sanitary protocol begins today: thousands of people must be tested so the pit of the @ Accor_Arena is filled with



CC

stands

@ Europe1pic.twitter.com / btUxfm3zzi

- Angèle Chatelier (@Angele_c) May 26, 2021

CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIALS

> Reopening of terraces: what risk of Covid contamination outdoors?


> "I'm afraid ...": the cabin syndrome, or the fear of resuming a normal life


> Covid: the countries which have done the opposite of us "have been better on all fronts"


> Coronavirus: why can a PCR test be positive one month after infection?


> Reopening of the terraces: how to indulge yourself while eating a balanced diet

Not all volunteers will go to the concert 

Marion, however, may not be in the room.

Because of the 7,500 volunteers, only 5,000 will be able to attend the concert.

The others were warned by email and asked to stay at home.

This is the goal of this experiment: to assess the spread of the virus during such an event.

All will have to be tested again seven days after the concert.

In Barcelona, ​​where a similar experiment took place in early March, "no sign" of contagion was reported afterwards, according to organizers.

In France, the results are expected at the end of June for a hoped-for return of standing gauge concerts in the fall.