This is the news we’ve all been waiting for months now: There’s a light at the end of the tunnel for the seemingly endless lockdown of all places of nightlife and culture. As multiple media reported yesterday, the Senate announced the reopening of the venue for public events in combination with rapid covid testing. The first halls to be part of the trial are the major stages of Berlin, including the Staatsoper, the Deutsche Oper, the Berliner Ensemble, the Volksbühne, the Philharmonie and the Konzerthaus.
But what makes us most happy is that there will also be a trial at Holzmarkt’s Säälchen in collaboration with the Berliner Clubkommission. Hold your horses, this is not a party, it is “just” for a concert. But stay. This is the first step we dreamed of, and if all goes well, it will mean that soon more events can happen and more places can reopen.
The aim of the trial project is to assess to what extent rapid covid testing could potentially allow wider reopening of sites. This is not the first time that a test like this has been attempted. Last year, in the fall, the Berliner Clubkommission was already assembling a test to do rapid covid tests at the club’s gates. But at the time, the rapid tests had yet to be released and they did not arrive in time before the ongoing lockdown was announced and made all further testing impossible. It is until now.
But compared to last year, we now have a test center infrastructure across the city. The Senate has also created a bunch of additional official test centers where Berliners can get free tests once a week. Apparently these have been so successful that they are already planning more to meet demand.
Visitors to the test events will not actually be tested at the gate, they will have to take the test on the same day at one of multiple designated testing centers and show up to the event with a negative test result. The cost of the test will be free for ticket holders.
Even though this is just a try-out and just a few events, it’s still great news and gives us hope that soon we can go back to the theater, see concerts and performances, maybe even be a bit of a party. We can’t wait! Bring those quick covid tests!
Here is a list released by the Senate of the events that form part of the trial:
- March 19 and 20, Berliner Ensemble (Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre: “Panikherz” conducted by Oliver Reese, in German),
- March 20, Philharmonie (sinphonie concert conducted by Kirill Petrenko),
- March 25, Konzerthaus Berlin (chamber concert with Christian Tetzlaff, Elisabeth Kufferath, Tanja Tetzlaff, Kiveli Dörken),
- March 27, Holzmarkt (concert in Säälchen, in collaboration with Berliner Clubkommission),
- April 1, Volksbühne Berlin (creation of “come as you are (jokastematerial oder der kapitalismus wird nicht siegen)” by Fritz Kater directey by Armin Petras),
- April 2, Staatsoper Unter den Linden (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozarts „Le nozze di Figaro“ conducted by Daniel Barenboim and directed by Vincent Huguet)
- April 4, Deutsche Oper (Riccardo Zandonais „Francesca da Rimini“ directed by Carlo Rizzi and directed by Christof Loy)
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by Franc
March 12, 2021
in Events, Pandemic