Quebec is relaxing COVID 19 restrictions, but dancing still off limits in clubs
Global News
Quebec and British Columbia are the only two provinces that continue to ban dancing in bars and nightclubs as part of their COVID-19 regulations.
For Montreal DJ Marc-Andre Patry, there’s no point performing if people can’t dance.
“I wouldn’t go to the museum for an exhibition and look at a piece of art on the wall if it was 80 per cent covered. I feel the same thing with music, especially the music I play,” he said in a recent interview.
For years, Patry has hosted a monthly event called Voyage Funktastique in nightclubs. The COVID-19 pandemic shut it down, but this summer Patry was able to move the party outside. With the weather getting cooler and Quebec’s COVID-19 rules still prohibiting dancing in bars, Patry is planning to put away his turntables.
“If people can’t dance to that music, then I’d rather not do anything,” he said.
Quebec and British Columbia are the only two provinces that continue to ban dancing in bars and nightclubs as part of their COVID-19 regulations. As Quebec relaxes other pandemic restrictions, nightclub owners, DJs and people longing to dance say they don’t understand why it remains banned.
Many, including the organizers of a protest scheduled to take place in Montreal on Saturday, say they support the efforts the province has taken to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, but they believe dancing can resume safely in venues where the province’s vaccine passport is required.
Tommy Piscardeli, the owner of Montreal nightclub Stereo, said for him, it’s about fairness. His venue — which does not serve alcohol and has a permit that allows it to stay open after Quebec’s 3 a.m. closing time — has been shuttered since the beginning of the pandemic.
Adding to his frustration was seeing videos of thousands of Ricky Martin fans dancing at a recent concert at Montreal’s Bell Centre. He said it doesn’t make sense that 17,000 people can be in an arena “screaming, dancing, shouting, singing,” when he can’t have 500 people in his club.
