Night Life Back In Full Swing; Entertainment Industry Pleased
Bars and Night Clubs will reopen tonight for the first time in two years. It has been a long, hard, fought battle for entertainers and club owners following the implementation of COVID-19 regulation that brought the industry to a standstill. Many of them lost their only source of economic income. Well, all of that is in the past now. As of April first, bars and night clubs are no longer required to remain closed. This comes as good news to stakeholders in the industry. News Five’s Paul Lopez takes a look.
Troy “D.J. Dalla” Flowers
Troy “D.J. Dalla” Flowers, Belizean Entertainer
“Well excuse me….foul eena foul coop for two years. I think tonight, the first night, you watch all the clubs and the bars and the bars, the other bars, the female bars and so, it will be crowded I am telling you.”
Paul Lopez, Reporting
D.J.’s, promoters and night club owners are celebrating the lifting of restrictions that prevented them from hosting public events for the past two years. Louis Escobar, the owners of No Fear Promotions and D.J.s suffered great loses.
Louis Escobar
Louis Escobar, Owner, No Fear Promotions
“A part from our finances being abruptly taken away, we just have to find ways to survive. I am not ashamed to say I lost my house, my life savings, and we in the entertainment industry, we have really had to come together and try to survive.”
Troy “D.J. Dalla” Flowers, Belizean Entertainers
“We kept wondering when will this be over, when will we be able to get back in clubs and events. It has really been a struggle. I have said it and I will say it again; a lot of artist and D.J.s sold out their equipment and never mih the work. It was a struggle.”
There appeared to be no end in sight to these restrictions, until recently when the Minister of Health passed a new Statutory Instrument noting that COVID-19 no longer poses an imminent threat. Now, events like Project X are making a huge comeback.
Louis Escobar, Owner, No Fear Promotions
“I am just so excited to introduce some new ideas we have coming to our fifth Project X. We in the entertainment industry, as you can see I already have my shirt to promote. It is the first of April. Things are opening up today and I am hitting the ground running, because I am so excited to bring our biggest event to date to the Belizean public.”
Troy “D.J. Dalla” Flowers, Belizean Entertainers
“You know like when you get a new girlfriend and all the excitement, this is it. I have been in dialogue with the Minister of Health and I must commend him for reaching out back to me. Every minute I was like when we could do something, when we could do. And so, mien it is a relief for me, because the industry has been taking a licking.”
Thirsty Thursday is a popular night club in Belize City that has had to adapt to the COVID19 restrictions to remain afloat. Linford Rosado, owner of the establishment says the dancehall will remain closed, at least for now. But, customers can still enjoy a night out at the venue.
Linford Rosado
Linford Rosado, Owner, Thirsty Thursdays
“It is good to be back having the country open back, things to normal. I’d like to thank the people who supported us all through the bad days. We got good support from the Belizean public. For tonight, we are going to take things one step at a time. We are going to still follow some of the regulations in terms of numbers of people. People are still making reservations for tables and I say we creep back in. We are going to start the music early, seven o’clock, start take reservations, food drinks, there is not going to be any dance floor tonight.”
D.J. Dalla agrees that caution cannot be thrown to the wind. While it is unlikely that party goers will be wearing their masks because they are no longer required to, there is a lot to learn from the last two years to prevent any further lockdowns.
Troy “D.J. Dalla” Flowers, Belizean Entertainers
“Use your discretion, use your masks still and that will lessen the spread of the virus. To go back in a lockdown would be wow, devastating I nuh know weh I wah do then. I nuh know, actually weh we wah duh then. I might have to ask you mek wih come work dah Channel Five.”
Reporting For News Five, I am Paul Lopez.
