When will the concerts and festivities return? In the midst of the Covid crisis, the question often comes up. Patience. Test concerts will take place indoors in the coming months, announced the Ministry of Culture.

“Optimist for festivals and seated shows”, Roselyne Bachelot reiterated Tuesday February 15 on LCI that “for standing shows, it is more complicated”. To see more clearly, test concerts in Marseille and Paris are scheduled for March and April, if the health context allows.

Read also: A concert of 4,000 people to study the spread of the coronavirus

Risk of contamination during a standing concert

“With very strict protocols, we think that there is no increased risk of infection during a concert. But this must be proven and therefore carried out a scientific study”, explains to AFP Vincent Estornel, emergency doctor and member of the “Do3me” collective. This Marseille collective brings together professionals from music, events and the medical world.

As a reminder, no case of contamination had been noted after a standing test concert of 500 masked people in December in Barcelona.

Two test concerts in Marseille

The Salle du Dôme in Marseille will host two test concerts in the second half of March, conducted with Inserm (National Institute for Health and Medical Research).

The main lines are drawn: select 2,000 people, with a first group of 1,000 people masked for a first concert. And a week later, we reverse the groups. One attends the concert, the other does not. All participants are tested the day before, seven days after and fourteen days after the concert.

A situation of “mixing”

“It will be a seated concert, but they will have the right to stand up, to wiggle, to sing as in a normal concert”, details Vincent Estornel. On stage, iconic rap group IAM has already volunteered.

Ms. Bachelot said that in Marseille the positive cases “will not be filtered because we have to put ourselves in a situation where there will be a mixing”. “This will make it possible to know if there are risks or absence of risks because, in our opinion, in the future, we will not be able to test everyone at the entrance, it would be too expensive”, comments to AFP Aurélie Hannedouche, of the SMA (Union of contemporary music).

Another test concert in Paris

In Paris, there is a standing concert project at Bercy (Accor Arena). “We want an audience of between 3,000 and 5,000 people, we are in the process of drafting the protocol,” Malika Seguineau, from Prodiss (National Union of producers, broadcasters, festivals and theaters in the private sector) told AFP.

The experiment will be carried out with the Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP).

Long-awaited experiences

Ms. Bachelot is also planning a European scientific conference in Marseille on April 8 to compare studies and “build a resilient model” for the entertainment world.

These experiences have been desired for several months by entertainment professionals, but not only. “When we are in a controlled health context and even if the virus has not yet been eradicated, we must return to a social life and a cultural life”, insists to AFP Carine Rolland, Deputy Mayor of Paris in charge of Culture.

“It is very positive that the Ministry of Culture is alongside professionals in the performing arts, it is giving itself a chance for the recovery”, welcomes Ms. Seguineau. Standing concerts have been banned for a year.

The question of summer festivals

But as Ms. Hannedouche reminds us, “the results of the concerts in Marseille and Paris will arrive too late for the summer festivals which must make their decision now”.

A meeting is scheduled on this subject on February 18 with Ms. Bachelot. “The minister will have to answer at least two questions for summer festivals: yes or no for standing concerts; yes or no for large gauges,” said Aurélie Hannedouche.

Another question: “What will the State do to support professionals, depending on the decisions taken, the risks incurred by the summer, so that they do not disappear”, as Malika Seguineau summarizes. The Parisian Solidays festival, scheduled for June, has already thrown in the towel for the second year in a row.