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Denmark reopening ‘a day to celebrate’

With Covid restrictions to end next month, Dansk Live now hopes to secure government funding to rebuild the domestic sector

By James Hanley on 27 Jan 2022

Dansk Live's Esben Marcher

Esben Marcher of Dansk Live


Denmark’s live music business has cheered “a day to celebrate” after it became the first country in the EU to announce it is ending all coronavirus measures.

The country will no longer categorise Covid-19 as a “socially critical” illness from 5 February, with PM Mette Frederiksen telling citizens they will be able to look forward to “concerts and festivals again” this summer.

The authorities will remove restrictions from 1 February due to Denmark’s high (81%) vaccination rate and the Omicron variant appearing to be milder than previous variants. Despite a recent surge in infections, Covid-related hospitalisations remain low.

“Our focus now is to secure a financial support package for festivals and venues, so they get the support they need to rebuild”

Welcoming the news, trade body Dansk Live tells IQ its immediate goal is to secure government assistance to help rebuild the domestic sector.

“This is truly a day to celebrate,” says head of secretariat Esben Marcher. “The live industry has been through so much within the last two years, and it’s hard to believe that we have probably seen the end of this pandemic. Our focus now is to secure a financial support package for festivals and venues, so they get the support they need to rebuild after a long and hard pandemic and make live music thrive again.”

The association warns that “things won’t just go back to normal” due to restrictions being lifted.

“Audiences still hesitate going to concerts for several reasons – i.e. uncertainty about the show happening at all, worries about getting infected – and it has been difficult to find volunteers for shows and festivals,” it adds. “So our work is cut out for us.”

 


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