Long road to recovery for Quebec’s cultural sector after COVID-19 shutdowns

As of Monday, theatres and other venues can reopen at 50 per cent capacity to a maximum of 500 people (1,000 for outdoor events), with vaccine passports required.

Quebec’s theatres and concert halls are preparing to reopen to the public on Monday, but leaders in the industry say it will be a long road back to normalcy for a sector that is grappling with successive COVID-19 closures and rising mental health concerns.

Jon Weisz, the head of a group that represents small music venues, says that while he’s pleased the government is allowing spaces to open, albeit in a limited fashion, he believes it will take three to five years for the music scene to recover financially, due in part to changes in audience behaviour.

He and others who spoke to The Canadian Press believe the culture sector has been treated unfairly by a government that has been quick to shut down cinemas, concert halls and theatres with no evidence that they’re the source of outbreaks.

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“The government has had sort of a knee-jerk reaction for venues to be the first businesses shut down and last ones to reopen, and they’ve provided absolutely no data to justify that,” said Weisz, the director of Les Scenes de Musique Alternatives du Quebec.

As of Monday, theatres and other venues can reopen at 50 per cent capacity to a maximum of 500 people (1,000 for outdoor events), with vaccine passports required.

Five men and women from the Quebec culture scene interviewed by The Canadian Press all said the reopening announcement brings them relief and hope. However, they stressed that the rules in place add extra complications and make it hard for some venues to reopen at all.

Sophie Pregent, the president of the Union des Artistes, which represents stage, television, radio, and film performers, says it won’t be financially viable for some venues to mount shows under the current rules.