The protest action ‘The Night is up’ has been largely peaceful. In several cities, night catering opened their doors on Saturday evening in violation of the corona measures.
The youth longed for a party. And that was clearly noticeable in Kerkrade. There, young people queued for hours to enter the Music Dome at the Roda stadium. “Finally! It’s possible again. I’m so happy,” said a visitor.
Standing in line for hours
The party Knaltibal was completely sold out. Young people could count on a big dance evening with performances by, among others, Big Benny, rapper Jebroer and DJ Tony Junior. “The night catering is just supposed to be open. It’s great that there is a protest. But what I didn’t miss is the long wait outside. Two hours I stood in line,” responded a partygoer.
City fine
The municipality of Kerkrade had already warned the entrepreneur. And owner Ramon Luckers also agreed. “We were told that we could expect a fine, but it is not known how high it is.” However, he was not deterred.
“Finally a little freedom again. I missed this”, said one visitor with relief. “It’s been too long. But I think it’s stupid that they couldn’t go out in Maastricht. Such a shame.”
Protest on the Griend
Things were a little different in Maastricht. Hundreds of young people protested on the Griend against the fact that the night catering industry was not allowed to open in the city on pain of a penalty of 50,000 euros. The campaign was an initiative of Pax Cultura. “The city abuses its power by denying the clubs the right to demonstrate,” the activist group said earlier Saturday.
The amount of the fine in Maastricht had ensured that nightclubs, including Complex Maastricht, had decided not to participate in the ‘The Night is up’ action, in which clubs across the country open their doors against the corona measures.
Shortly before midnight the party seemed to be drawing to a close and many young people had already left.
Also read: ‘Party protest’ in Maastricht: hundreds of young people on their feet