The entertainment world again impacted by the sharp increase in Covid-19 cases
The Eurockéennes de Belfort festival returned on Thursday June 30 after a two-year absence due to Covid-19.
AFP - JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The art world, which is barely recovering from the consequences of the pandemic, is once again hit by the seventh wave of coronavirus which is plaguing Europe.
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Festivals and many shows, concerts, ballets, plays have been canceled in recent days following cases of Covid-19.
It hadn't happened since January.
The contemporary ballet Pina Bausch in Paris was stopped short, for example.
In full European tour, the Rolling Stones had to cancel their concert in Amsterdam, after Mick Jagger, 78, was diagnosed positive.
Same thing for the heavy metal band Metallica at the Out In The Green festival in Frauenfeld, Switzerland.
A worrying situation when the live show had lost 75% of its income at the height of the pandemic.
“
The start of summer 2022 is once again quite worrying due to a combination of factors.
First,
the aftermath of the health crisis
, because we know that the relationship with the public has been complicated to rebuild, with a plethoric offer and spectators who do not rush into the rooms
, ”explains Jean-Philippe Thiellay. , President of the National Music Center (CNM).
Losses difficult to assess
The performing arts must also deal with the inflationary context, but now also with climatic phenomena.
“
For the first time, a festival was canceled due to the heat wave;
it was Free Musique Festival a few weeks ago in Charente-Maritime.
And then this new wave (
from Covid
,
editor's note
) which affects artists and which causes cancellations.
I would say that the musical and variety show industry is tired, worried and we would not have gone well from this accumulation of disasters
,
”
continues Jean-Philippe Thiellay
.
► To read also: Covid-19: "the BA.5 sub-variant has a very wide field of transmission"
Difficult to assess the losses for the moment, especially since the situations are very different depending on the festival, between those who are insured and those who are not.
"
What is certain is that it is very difficult for the programming teams to reschedule because the schedules are full, because the offer is plethoric, and therefore it is not at all easy to arrive at postpone a show that would be canceled because of sick artists
, ”explains Jean-Philippe Thiellay
.
With cases of Covid on the rise all over Europe, the world of live performance could therefore well experience a complicated summer after having already spent more than two years operating in slow motion.
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