French gov extends ban on major events until winter

The French government has announced that events with over 5,000 attendees will be banned until November, extending the original ban on major events for a second time.

In May, the government declared a summer event ban until mid-July before pushing it back until September.

This month, prime minister Jean Castex announced that the ban would once again be extended to November, following a concerning new spike in France’s recorded cases of Coronavirus.

“Events of more than 5,000 people remain prohibited until 30 October, with the possibility for prefects to waive them subject to strict compliance with health protocols,” says a statement from the French government.

Last Wednesday, France registered 3,776 new Covid-19 infections, marking a new post-lockdown peak and bringing the total to 225,043.

Festivals including Lollapalooza Paris, Hellfest, La Route du Rock, Rock en Seine were forced to cancel their 2020 editions

Festivals including Lollapalooza Paris, Hellfest, La Route du Rock, Rock en Seine, Eurockéennes de Belfort, Solidays, Festival d’Avignon and Main Square were forced to cancel their 2020 editions due to France’s ongoing event ban.

The new measures in France are identical to that of Germany, following German chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to extend the country’s event ban to November, but with exceptions for those able to comply with coronavirus regulations.

Elsewhere in Europe, Belgium recently announced more stringent restrictions, halving the number of people permitted to attend indoor and outdoor events, reducing capacity limits to 100 and 200 respectively.

The country’s capacity limits had been set to double in August, which would have seen 400-capacity indoor shows and open-air events of up to 800 people, but plans were slashed after a worrying increase in coronavirus cases.

However, Switzerland is planning a promising return to live, permitting events with more than 1,000 people from 1 October.

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German venues to turn red to protest shutdown

Music venues and significant historical buildings in Germany will be illuminated red on 22 June as part of the Night Of Light 2020 campaign, as the events industry protests against the continuation of its shutdown.

Launched by Essen-based live and brand communication company LK-AG, the campaign follows the decision by the German government to extend the current ban on large-scale live events until the end of October. No concerts, festivals or events have taken place in Germany since the country entered lockdown in March. The government recently dedicated a €150 million funding package to help revive the sector.

The Night of Light campaign will also feature a virtual event from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., hosted by promoter and campaign streaming partner BigCityBeats, with DJs performing across three floors in futuristic event venue the Adam Hall Group Experience Centre in Frankfurt.

“With this appeal we are addressing each individual politician in the country to finally wake up”

DJs performing at the event include Gestört aber GeiL, Le Shuuk, Milk & Sugar, Musti Nero, Paul Van Dyk, Simina Grigoriu, DJ Teddy-O and ASK:ME.

“The event industry will not survive the next 100 days,” comments LK-AG CEO Tom Koperek. “The current requirements and restrictions make the economic implementation of events practically impossible.”

“With this appeal we are addressing each individual politician in the country to finally wake up,” adds BigCityBeats founder Bernd Breiter.

The Winter edition of BigCityBeats World Club Dome festival will take place in Dusseldorf in January 2021.

The event will be streamed live across all BigCityBeats social media channels, on the official Night of Light website and on various other partner channels. Viewers are encouraged to post pictures and videos from their illuminated cities under the hashtag #NightOfLight2020.

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