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German Promoters Association Clarifies Position On Vaccinations As Entry Requirement
Klaus Westermann – BDKV president and CEO Prof. Jens Michow
Prof. Jens Michow, president of Germany’s promoters association BDKV, was quoted by several media reports as having stated that only those vaccinated or recovered from COVID should be allowed to attend, work at or perform concerts.
The sensational headlines followed an interview Michow gave to German radio station Deutschlandfunk Kultur, where he said that promoters should be allowed to stage concerts for those vaccinated or recovered, if testing isn’t enough to remove distancing mandates and therefore capacity restrictions.
The BDKV has been warning that the German live entertainment industry is about to fold, if politicians do not offer perspectives for reopening without capacity restrictions, which is the only way for this business to operate in an economically viable manner.
When Deutschlandfunk moderator Axel Rahmlow asked Michow, “concerts only for those vaccinated: yes or no?,” Michow’s reply was, “Concerts in such a way that they’re economical, and if that is not possible with those testes then at any rate with those vaccinated and recovered.”
Michow said those willing to make use of the state sponsored vaccination offers should be able to participate in events again like they used to under normal circumstances.
He referred to a promoter’s householder’s rights, which would allow them to deny access to anyone lacking proof of vaccination or immunity. This would only make sense once politicians lifted capacity restrictions for events where everybody was either vaccinated or recovered.
He touched on the current medical hypothesis that even those vaccinated could transmit the virus to other vaccinated and unvaccinated people alike, saying that virologists had to verify this.
In his view, the only reason the vaccinated weren’t currently admitted to live events without restrictions was the need to protect the unvaccinated, which is where he drew the line.
Michow said: the best case scenario would be to vaccinate 100% of the German population, but since that was never going to happen, he didn’t want those taking the jab having to restrict themselves for the sake of those not vaccinated.
His conclusion in summary: since events were only viable at full capacity, and if a full capacity was only possible with a vaccinated or recovered audience, then promoters should make use of their right to deny entrance to all others, as soon as the decision makers gave the green light.
– The landing page of the Bundesverband der Konzert- und Veranstaltungswirtschaft e.V., in short: BDKV.
The association represents some 450 promoters, including Germany’s biggest ones like FKP Scorpio, eventimpresents and DEAG.
In social media post, Michow stated that no promoter wanted to have to dispense with parts of their audience. BDKV has been demanding from government, that unvaccinated with a rapid test taken prior to an events should be allowed in. So far, however, the government hasn’t implemented any of BDKV’s demands into its policies, which have prevented large-scale events from going ahead for the past one-and-a-half years. Michow’s latest statements were an effort to find the lowest common denominator with the decision makers.
He also wrote: “At no time did I call for mandatory vaccinations. If a newspaper thinks this was a bold headline for an article, I can’t stop them. But I never said that! I demand, however, that events for vaccinated and recovered people must be allowed to take place without distancing rules and capacity limits.
“Everyone has to decide for themselves whether they want to be vaccinated or not and, of course, I also know that many people cannot be vaccinated at all. That is why it would be absurd for me – especially as a lawyer – to demand a general mandatory vaccination. It is unacceptable, however, that those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered have to continue to accept restrictions of their basic rights, even though they have done everything possible to protect themselves and others from infection. All of this has absolutely nothing to do with a general vaccination requirement.”
The newspaper originally asking Michow for a statement and publishing it under a misleading headline, Welt.de, has changed its headline and added a clarifying paragraph to its reporting, after Michow approached them in his other role as lawyer.
Referring to artists like British legend Eric Clapton or German icon Nena, who said they wouldn’t perform at events discriminating against their audience, Michow said: it was understandable to a certain degree that some people fought back against restrictions of their private economy, but that these artists had to live with the consequence of not performing for the time being.
During her July 25 concert, Nena had left it up to each individual, whether they wanted to remain inside their designated boxes or come to the front of the stage. If more artists copied her, said Michow, no one should be surprised if it’ll take even longer for things to pick back up again.
Another German promoter, who had booked Nena to perform at a “Strandkorb Open Air” in Wetzlar, Sept. 13, cancelled her performance. The “Strandkorb” concept has the audience seated in roofed wicker beach chairs, which doesn’t chime with “Nena’s attitude,” the romoter wrote on Facebook.
Another German icon, Helge Schneider, canceled his remaining five “Strandkorb Open Air” performances, after walking off stage in Augsburg, saying, “It really isn’t fun. You have absolutely no contact with the audience, also people are walking around all the time. I’m very sorry, please appreciate that I, as an artist, can’t do anything under these circumstances. We’ve given it our all, there’s no [feedback], it’s not your fault, the system’s simply flimsy and stupid.”
Many other artists are enjoying the “Strandkorb” setup. German stars like Jan Delay, Doro Pesch, Gentleman, Philipp Poisel and many more have or are performing at one of the events, which are happening all across the country.