Attendance at cinemas and live shows at the start of the year shows a drop of around 25% compared to the same period before the health crisis, said Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot on Sunday. However, the minister said she expects “a beautiful festival season”assuring that she was going to continue “to help all who need it”.
In total, nearly 14 billion euros have been mobilized for the world of culture in France since the start of the health crisis, according to new figures from the ministry. Ms. Bachelot assured in the show “Children of the Republic” broadcast on Sunday on Radio J:
“Everyone recognizes that there is no country that has done as much as France to save its culture.”
She then adds that the artists are “tired, anxious but do not come out washed out” of the crisis. However, she qualifies, “I’m not all-out optimism…]I know very well that in cinema, there’s still a 25% drop in attendance, in live performance too” at the start of the year, compared to the same period before the Covid-19 crisis. This figure varies between 20 and 25% depending on the rooms, compared to the same time in 2019, the ministry said.
Live performance in particular is witnessing a “phenomenon of bipolarization” according to her : “There are shows that work”, with rooms filled and others where the public is not at the rendezvous. Restrictions have started to be lifted, such as the maximum gauge for seated audiences, set at 2,000 people, which ended on February 2 and will be followed by the return of standing concerts on February 16.
“There are scheduling issues because standup shows are usually international tours. Standup shows are going to have a harder time getting back to normal than regular shows.”
According to the minister, the world of culture is “faced with both an extremely harsh pandemic and […] in the great digital winds, the appearance of the metaverse. It’s extremely violent, this double anguish.”.