Exactly ten years ago there were queues in front of the bars. Young people of sixteen could still legally drink in the pub for one evening. On January 1, 2014, the drinking age was increased to eighteen. What is the current state of Brabant nightlife? Do minors still enter the pub and are they simply given alcohol? We put it to the test in nightlife to find out how difficult it is.
Two Friday evenings we go out with a number of minors to see whether they enter cafes and whether they can actually order a drink. We go to about twenty pubs spread across seven Brabant places, both villages and towns. The first evening three seventeen year old girls come with us. The second evening we go out with two seventeen-year-old boys.
It’s eleven o’clock on Friday evening and the girls are looking forward to a party. Just before we leave, they change their sweaters for crop tops and an extra layer of mascara is quickly applied. “Then we look older.” First up is a party in a village in East Brabant where you are welcome from the age of seventeen. Everyone receives a stamp upon entry and wristbands are handed out to those who can prove they are eighteen. The girls do not get such a band, but the system turns out not to be waterproof. Out of four attempts, they receive a beer twice.
At a pub in another small village they do not work with bands or stamps. The girls are allowed inside. A large part of the audience appears to be underage and there is a lot of drinking going on. Several young people also smoke indoors. There seems to be a blind eye to acquaintances, and passing drinks is tolerated. Once at the bar, the girls are checked.
‘Alright then’
In places in Eindhoven where the girls walk in, because there is no check at the door, the bar staff is alert. While the music blasts loudly from the speakers and the lights flash, a bartender checks the ID card. She calls some colleagues over and together they decide not to give alcohol. “They had doubts,” says the seventeen-year-old girl when they come back outside. “The three of them were discussing.”
There are also doubts at another Eindhoven pub. The first of the three shows her ID card to the bouncer, she is eighteen months old. “Come on then,” he says, nodding his head towards the door. Then the other two show their identification. “Oh, you guys too?”, he asks. “We are all the same age,” is the response. The bouncer calls in the owner, who is visibly hesitant. The choice is up to the operator: “You are the boss.” Ultimately, the girls receive a rejection, so they leave again.
‘You know it’s 18+?’
A week later we go out with the boys on the other side of the province, we start in a village pub. Nothing can be found online about the permitted age, but after checking at the door it turns out that seventeen year olds are allowed in. Once inside, there seems to be no control anymore. The tap is running at full speed, the shots lubricate the throat and the boys also order two glasses of beer without any problems.
They leave their beer behind, as we agreed with them, and they continue their way to another pub in the same village. There it turns out that the ID card is not even necessary, the bouncer immediately makes the correct assessment: “You know it’s 18+?” They honestly admit that there is indeed no point, so they drop out.
It is busy on the streets in Breda. A crying boy falls over a Greek billboard and a number of police officers are busy talking to so-called atmosphere managers. There are empty cups of beer on the street and we barely walk through someone’s vomit. The boys try to get in at about five bars spread across the center, but there are strict controls. They don’t succeed anywhere.
Not as easy as before
In the cities it appears to be more difficult to enter and get a drink than in the villages. Of the ten bars we tried in Breda and Eindhoven, the young people only managed to get beer once.
Having a drink out and about is possible under the age of eighteen, but certainly not as easy as before. In general, both bouncers and bar staff are aware of NIX18. A night out for minors remains exciting, because you can look forward to it and then end up at home on the couch.
Omroep Brabant investigated the alcohol use of young people in Brabant. You can see that in this HOW..?