After 200 concerts a year, the concert hall has said goodbye: it can no longer survive

The White Piano Hall in the old town of the capital has a capacity for more than a hundred people. Before the pandemic, an average of about 200 concerts were held here a year.

In the empty room, the group “Subtilu-Z” performs the work for the last time. The event space, which has been in operation for more than 10 years, is coming to an end due to the quarantine.

“The closing concert of a piece and it was, symbolically, the farewell to this space. We are terminating the lease for this room because we cannot afford it. We have somehow survived the year ourselves, but we don’t see a future. The quarantine is still moving. Small business support is still promising, promising, but not through. You don’t take those scenes home with you, the piano is really a luxury item, yes, all these things will find a new home, ”says Ugnė Sabaitytė, manager of White Piano Hall.

The concert hall director has tried to use the support measures currently in place, but this is not enough.

“We were living on tickets, we didn’t pay much for GPM. Survive then on what? We don’t plan to take out a loan, as it will have to be given away. We would like to draw attention to the fact that we may be the first to fall, but certainly not the latter, if it continues ”, says U. Sabaitytė.

Event organizers explain the growing number of bankrupt entrepreneurs working in the small events industry.

“The first business fell in the fall. Now there is a second wave, when those who stumbled but stood still for a while fell. June is already wavering, events are already being canceled. What does this mean. Our business is seasonal, we collect berries at a certain time, if you don’t pick them, they are not available all year round, “said event organizer Evaldas Venskutonis.

“It just came to our attention then. It is important to live and celebrate safely, accept Easter and then depending on the numbers we see, we may get some suggestions next week,” says Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė.

The government has no plans to change the quarantine restrictions until the end of Easter. According to Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, after the holidays, if the morbidity indicators begin to improve, it will be possible to think about launching activities. It is said that the opening of a business must follow several rules. For example, shortening the working day.

“If there was a way to agree that we have more options during the day about what to do, but at night it reduces the contacts through which the infection spreads. I think it could be a pretty fair agreement,” he says. I. Šimonytė.

Šimonytė draws attention to examples and practices from foreign countries. The Barcelona experiment, where 5,000 people attended the concert, received a lot of attention.

“There are various experiments with people coming to a rock concert with evidence, there are all kinds of evidence,” says I. Šimonytė.

The Ministry of Culture adds that after Easter, the smaller cultural spaces, theaters, philharmonics and chamber spaces could open first.

“We could start activities in a closed space for no more than 50 people. No more than 30 percent filling the room. Subsequently, the requirements could be revised every month, ”said Culture Minister Simonas Kairys.

The government is very cautious with the most important mass events. It is said that in the distant future, perhaps in summer, the first concerts could only take place outdoors.

“Maybe we could start with events that are outside and at first talk about sitting events, not standing, so that it is possible to control the observance of distances and the like,” says S. Kairys.

Juozas Augutis, member of the Council of Health Experts of the Presidency and rector of the Vytautas Magnus University, explains that the liberalization of restrictions will be closely related to morbidity indicators. Under the optimistic scenario, Lithuania should peak in morbidity in April, which may lead to more significant releases in the summer.

“If we were so successful, we would already have such a significant decrease in late June, early July, then the effect of vaccination would be activated by around ten percent of the vaccinated community,” says Juozas Augutis, rector of Vytautas. Magnus University.

In February and March, the government eased the quarantine, but when morbidity rates began to rise again, the government decided to temporarily tighten restrictions and before Easter it renewed restrictions on movement between municipalities across the country.