A number of nightclub and disco owners expressed their disappointment and frustration after the government decided not to allow standing events for the time being, despite expectations that such events would be allowed from this month.

While Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne had only said that the government would “consider” allowing standing events after the Santa Marija feast, guidelines uploaded last month on the Malta Arts Council (MAC) website referred to standing events starting from 16 August with a capping of 100 people.

While confirming that standing events will not be taking place for now, the government said that seating events will be allowed to increase their capacity from 200 people per cluster to 300 – with restrictions on social distancing, mask-wearing, and the vaccination certificate remaining in place. The capacity will then increase to 500 people per cluster as from 30 August.

The subject on standing events will be discussed again towards the end of August depending on the Covid-19 situation then.

On the same day of the press conference, the guidelines on the MAC website were changed, with the new version omitting all references to standing events.

Gianpula Village Managing Director Matthew Degiorgio was one of several people in the business who were disappointed by this turn of events.

“When event organisers saw the MAC document, they started preparing and setting up for standing events, but the health authorities later decided otherwise.”

Degiorgio questioned why restrictions on night clubs remain in place despite the high vaccination rate. “If the authorities aren’t going to open up at this stage... at 86% of the population being fully vaccinated, when are they going to open up? What was the point of taking the vaccine?”

Caption 1: Guidelines uploaded on the MAC website in July referred to standing events as from 16 August.

 

Caption 2: In a revised document uploaded in August, all references to standing events were removed.

 

“We are not asking for much. We are only asking to be allowed to operate standing events for 100 fully-vaccinated people in our venues, which usually cater for thousands,” Degiorgio said.  

“Can anyone give me scientific reasons as to why I cannot open up my club for just 100 fully vaccinated people?”

In addition, Degiorgio explained that nightclubs and discos are seen as the industries that should be the last to open. “We are the only sector that had to adapt and completely change our business model without any financial help. Although places like restaurants and bars had to limit the number of tables, they still have the possibility to operate normally. Discos and nightclubs had to change the nature of their business completely,” Degiorgio said.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Grima, who runs several night clubs in Paceville said: “while we would like our clubs to operate standing events at full capacity in order to return to sustainable levels, we also understand that this is not possible with the current situation.”

“However, we do expect the health authorities to be realistic and practical and avoid making things even more difficult,” Grima added.

He explained that the current Covid-19 restrictions for entertainment establishments such as discos and nightclubs make business “unsustainable.”

“With these restrictions in place, we sometimes tend to lose more money when open than if our establishments had to remain closed.”

“Although we try our very best to keep the situation under control, many customers do not abide by the regulations. This leads to unnecessary tension in the area, even in some instances, having enforcement officers asking us to close our doors for the night when we are doing our utmost by employing more staff to control gatherings as much as possible,” Grima said.

He also questioned what difference closing times make, arguing that closing at 2am or closing at 4am would not make any difference.

 

Chamber of SMEs encourages self-management if public want standing events

Like Grima, the deputy president of the Malta Chamber of SMEs, Philip Fenech, said that irresponsible patrons can make things even more difficult for these venues. He strongly encouraged the public to be disciplined and socially responsible by abiding by all Covid-19 regulations during any social events.

As a representative of Malta’s tourism and leisure industry, Fenech said that although enforcement is important, the biggest enforcement has to come from self-management. He emphasised that if people are disciplined, enforcement wouldn’t even be required.

“Now there is no excuse. Everyone is aware of the Covid-19 regulations and the dynamics of how the virus works. Therefore, the public needs to discipline itself even further,” Fenech said.

He explained that if people continue flouting Covid-19 restrictions by organising illegal gatherings or parties in private or public places, and by not abiding by the rules within entertainment establishments, the path to normality and more freedom will only be prolonged further.

“We’ve heard of stories over the weekend where DJs had to switch off the music to get people to sit back down in order to control the situation. In doing so, some threw plastic cups at the DJs when the music stopped. The police even closed a few establishments for the rest of night,” Fenech said.

He strongly emphasised that Covid-19 regulations aren’t there for people to be devious and to break them when enforcement is not present. The whole scope of restrictions is to contain the spread of the virus as much as possible.

“For this to be successful, the public needs to make an effort in abiding by the rules so that further restrictions can be eased and businesses within the entertainment industry will have the possibility of organising standing events,” Fenech said.

He added that every time regulations are broken, the easing of restrictions is delayed.

With reference to the increase in capacity, Fenech said: “Although this is very positive, the restrictions are still very tight, which means that we are still nowhere close to how such activities were in the past.”

The Chamber of SMEs understands the struggle that nightclub owners are going through as they are still not getting much and it’s now beyond their limit.

“Night clubs and discos as well as hyped-up bars are the ones that are feeling it the most because their activity is based on standing events. They are the hardest hit and they have not been given any further relaxation of measures. Therefore, who is going to compensate for these businesses?”, Fenech asked.  

“Essentially, there were expectations that standing events would be allowed to take place but given the increase in Covid-19 active cases as well as the circumstances of the restrictions that are already in place, the authorities tend to question: ‘How can we be more lenient in the easing of restrictions, when those are already in place are not being abided by?’”

Asked whether the Chamber believes that night clubs should be allowed to operate at full capacity, Fenech said that entertainment establishments are finding it very difficult to operate at sustainable levels due to the limited capacities and restrictions.

“Although everybody would have enjoyed standing events to take place, the health authorities are the experts in containing the virus from spreading. For us to have further relaxation of restrictions, we need to be more responsible.”

As the vaccination rate keeps increasing, not only in Malta but in other countries as well, the Chamber looks forward to the further easing of restrictions since hospitalisations are on the decline, making the situation sustainable, Fenech said.