Dutch Government Announces Test Events Throughout April

Canadian singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen performs at the Paradiso Amsterdam, Feb. 12, 2020.
FERDY DAMMAN/ANP/AFP via Getty Images – Canadian singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen performs at the Paradiso Amsterdam, Feb. 12, 2020.
It was Jepsen’s first club show in the Netherlands and one of the last at Paradiso pre-Covid.

The Dutch government has announced a list of hundreds of test events that’ll be held across the country throughout April, beginning April 9, including visits to museums, theater, live music and other performances.

The capacities range between 50 and 2,500 depending on the even and the venue. Some of the countries most famous live music spaces are taking place, including Melkweg and Paradiso in the capital Amsterdam.
The Paradiso nightclub is shown closed on Oct. 1, 2020 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Sabine van Wechem/Getty Images – The Paradiso nightclub is shown closed on Oct. 1, 2020 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Ever since the beginning of the pandemic, bars and clubs, with their young demographics, close quarters, and flowing alcohol, have been viewed by decision makers as environments for spreading coronavirus, which has yet to be proven scientifically.

The full list of events can be found on the Dutch government’s website.

The government initiative follows a private one, dubbed “Back To Live!”, a joint initiative of Fieldlab Events, Eventplatform, the Alliantie van Evenementenbouwers (Alliance of Event Builders) and ClickNL.
“Back To Live!” just completed a series of test events across various event genres and with various audience sizes. The results are expected in the coming weeks.
A source with knowledge of the matter said the initial scientific findings were quite encouraging, not indicating any correlation between visiting  events with Covid measures in place and catching the virus.