UTRECHT – Last night, for the first time in a long while, people were back on the dance floor at numerous clubs in Utrecht and Amersfoort. Clubs such as De Helling, dB’s, and Ekko took part in the “De Nacht staat op” protest; in Amersfoort, people could go out at Fluor. The event is a protest against the government’s COVID-19 measures.
Report and text by Ulrike Nagel for RTV Utrecht.
With further easing of restrictions just around the corner—does protesting still make sense? Arlette de Jong, director of the pop venue De Helling, certainly thinks so. “The possibility of doing more hasn’t been officially confirmed yet, and we’ve been closed for two years now. The easing of restrictions still doesn’t apply to nighttime, so all nighttime programming is canceled. It’s a social glue; people haven’t seen each other in a long time, there’s so much creativity, and that value is greatly underestimated.”
There are lots of happy faces in line for De Helling, despite the cold. “It feels great just to go out. It’s nice just to be standing in line. I’ve really missed dancing,” says one person. And a girl a few people down adds, “It feels good. We’re all looking forward to it, and it’s been way too long.”
Inside, the beats are blasting from the speakers; five DJs are spinning today—until 4 a.m., provided no enforcement officers show up. They’re all from Utrecht, so they can bike home if necessary. Bastienne is one of them. Because of her job as a nurse, she really needs the night as an outlet, she explains. “The night feels more intimate, and a bit more anonymous, too. We had a few weekends last year when we were allowed to open, but that was during the day. It’s precisely at night that it’s so much easier to let go of who you are during the day. I work as a nurse at the hospital, and at night I can just put on my sweatpants and big sweaters and spin and dance. Then I’m a different person.”
At the hospital, Bastienne also felt the pressure from the pandemic because of her job—for example, on the cohort ward, where she’s been working for the past year. “You see both extremes of the COVID-19 debate. On the one hand, I understand very well why the measures were put in place—I’m well aware of the consequences of COVID-19. But why the measures are being enforced so strictly in nightlife, in particular—I honestly don’t understand that anymore.”
The nightlife industry feels unrecognized; after all these measures, the clubs want to be visible again. Arlette de Jong: “Don’t forget that we’re already on protocol 19 or 20. With seated vs. non-seated, 1.5 meters, 50 people, 30 people, 70 people, food and beverage service allowed, food and beverage service not allowed—it’s really been intense.”At De Helling, people can dance the night away for quite a while; according to some, other clubs in Utrecht are actually being enforced. Arlette de Jong: “It’s nerve-wracking. The city of Utrecht has indicated that they’re going to enforce the rules, but unlike many other municipalities, we haven’t been hit with a penalty fine, so it really is the toughest city in the whole of the Netherlands.”
Visitors are hopeful. “I think the enforcement officers will either show up right away or stay away entirely—and we’re hoping for the latter.” Another looks questioningly at her friend. “I think they’ll show up later—that’s what I heard, that they’ll start making things a bit difficult toward the end. I think it’s worse in Amsterdam than in Utrecht. We’ll see what the evening brings,” she concludes.
Like cows in a meadow
Inside, the bartender is pouring a beer. He’s having a hard time getting the head just right. But even under his face mask, you can see he’s grinning from ear to ear. “We’re all just like cows in a pasture. We’ve been looking forward to this for ages, so the dancing is about to start. Now let’s see if we can keep it up all night.” The dance floor is now pretty packed. De Helling has sold 300 tickets; they could have sold more, actually. “We did take into account that people would need more space. And that we’d have to send fewer people home, should law enforcement show up,” explains director De Jong.
DJ Bastienne is also happy that she can finally DJ again, but she has mixed feelings about it. “We don’t feel heard, supported, or recognized. That’s why we’re organizing this. I’m really looking forward to this evening, but I also feel a bit of anger that we have to do this this way.” In the end, the enforcement officers did come to De Helling after all; at 1:30 a.m., they handed over a written warning. “We had to clear out by 2:30 a.m., and we managed to do that,” director Arlette de Jong said in an email.
Response from the City of Utrecht
On Sunday morning, the City of Utrecht announced that ten verbal warnings had been issued. This was followed by six written warnings. “Subsequently, all hospitality establishments that were still open closed down,” a spokesperson reported. According to the city, the evacuation of the clubs proceeded peacefully.
