Three quarters of nightclubs will not open before September, Ivan Poupardin, president of the French Association of Nightclub Owners told the Journal du dimanche earlier this month.

Although bars and cafés have reopened periodically over the last 18 months, nightclubs have been closed since the pandemic first hit in March 2020.

Concerts with a standing audience have been possible since June 30th and nightclubs reopen on July 9th.

However indoor venues are allowed 75 percent of their normal capacity (outdoor events can have 100 percent capacity) and entry to nightclubs is via the health passport.

“We don’t want the health pass, it’s much too restrictive. It’s as if you were running ski lifts in June without skiers!” Morgan Dalle, who manages a nightclub in the northern city of Béthune, told La Voix du Nord.

Dalle, who also runs national collective of café, hotel, restaurant and nightclub owners, said he expected 30 percent of France’s clubs to be either closed or in administration by 2022.

Health passports and masks

A health passport is required to enter a nightclub. The French health pass is available through the TousAntiCovid app or on paper. In order to access the pass, you need to show either a vaccination certificate, proof of a negative PCR or antigen test taken in the previous 48 hours, or proof that you have recently recovered from Covid.

But with currently only 22 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds in France fully vaccinated, club owners say they do not expect enough customers to return to make it worth their while opening.

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Culture minister Roselyn Bachelot has said it will be possible for nightclubs and concert venues to provide antigen tests at the entrance for those who do not already have a health passport.

For clubs or larger concerts where a health passport is required, a mask will not be compulsory, although it is recommended.

For smaller concerts that do not require a health passport, the mask will still be required.

The government will re-evaluate the measures in September.

“We are going to be able to look ahead to the summer in good conditions and party safely,” Griset said.

France has around 1,600 nightclubs which employ 30,000 people.