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France pledges €55m for live music industry

The live events sector will receive €85m, and cinemas €30m, to support them through a six-week curfew in France's biggest cities

By IQ on 26 Oct 2020

Culture minister Roselyne Bachelot (right) speaks at Thursday's press conference

Culture minister Roselyne Bachelot (right) speaks at Thursday's press conference


The French government has pledged a further €55 million in financial support for the live music sector.

In a press conference on Thursday (22 October), France’s culture minister, Roselyne Bachelot, announced an additional €115m for the cultural industries, including €85m for live performance, in order to “safeguard the programming” of live shows, “including [those] with extremely restricted capacities” (ie with social distancing). Of that €85m, €55m is specifically for live music.

The other €30m will go cinemas, while an emergency fund for artists and crew, dubbed the FUSSAT (fonds d’urgence de solidarité pour artistes et techniciens du spectacle, will receive a further €10m.

The new funding comes as French authorities impose a six-week curfew, from 9pm to 6am, across 54 of the country’s most populous départements in a bid to control the second wave of coronavirus.

“We encourage all French people to continue to go to see artists on stage or the cinema”

The support measures are intended to support the sector through the six-week semi-lockdown, which began in some areas on 17 October.

Additionally, the ministry intends to waive tax on tickets for live shows for the first half of 2021, pending approval by parliament, Bachelot added.

In a statement, the ministry of culture thanks entertainment “professionals for their […] commitment to continue to offer the public access to culture under strict health and safety conditions” and “encourages all French people to continue to go to see artists on stage or the cinema.”

There will be no standing shows in France until next spring, though some socially distanced, seated events were taking before the latest curfews.

 


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