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Nightclubs in Brussels will open "with or without permission" on February 18

Nightclubs and event venues have joined forces and decided to open as “enough is enough”

Brussels will see its nightlife spaces re-open on February 18, despite COVID restrictions still being in place throughout Belgium.

The move is part of a protest against the Consultation Committee's lack of action over the reopening of the nightlife sector — which has been shuttered since Autumn 2021.

“We cooperated: first for two weeks, then for a few months and finally we closed for two years, but enough is enough,” Lorenzo Serra of the Brussels By Night Federation, which represents nightclubs in the city told Bruzz.

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Serra added that the nightlife sector has been “without perspective and with insufficient financial support since the brief reopening in the fall of 2021.”

“The government-imposed barometer appears to be nothing more than an outdated tool to permanently impose a closure,” said Serra who also explained that “entrepreneurs in our industry can’t take any more. Many are about to sell everything,”.

There will be a Consultation Committee meeting taking place on February 11 which will see them discuss a date to reopen clubs which sees the nightclub organisers of Brussels willing to postpone by a few days.

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Becky Buckle is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow her on Twitter