Rieu Flag Not Quite Yet Flying After News Of Faster Vaccination

Rieu Flag Not Quite Yet Flying After News Of Faster Vaccination

L1 Radio by Maura Laarman

Despite hopeful news from Minister De Jonge about a faster vaccination rate, the flag at André Rieu's will not quite yet be flying. That's what his son Pierre revealed on the Newsshow on L1 Radio.

Statements We Can Use

Corona Minister De Jonge revealed this week that the expectation is that at the beginning of July all Dutch people who want a corona vaccine will already have been inoculated at least once. However, that does not mean that the flag will be flying yet at Pierre Rieu's, spokesman for his father André Rieu. "I didn't hear him say: "From July 1st, we're going to get back to life like it was a year ago. So it is waiting until we receive statements with which  we really can do something."

Vaccination Rate

Previously, the government thought it would take until the beginning of autumn for anyone who wants to be at least partially vaccinated. But based on the experience of recent times, De Jonge is now more optimistic and thinks that they can be this far along by the end of the second quarter, provided that the deliveries now expected continue. He expressed that expectation Tuesday on the television show Op1. According to De Jonge, it is a "realistic assessment that we are heading for a fairly normal summer".

Cry For Clarity

Preparations for André Rieu's Vrijthof concerts in Maastricht have now cautiously started . "We'll continue towards July until we hear a counter-message," Pierre Rieu said. "But it is about time we hear something. The entire industry is crying out for clarity for this summer."

Reality

He does not know whether it is realistic to expect the concert series can actually to continue in July. "That would mean that in four months we would have to be back to normal. That all measures have disappeared. Of course, we all hope that it will go really quick, but is that realistic? I don't know."

One Hundred Nationalities

André Rieu's concert series attracts many visitors from different countries to Maastricht every year. And that makes it more complicated. "We have about 100 different nationalities," explains Pierre Rieu. "Is it possible for all those people from all these countries to come to Maastricht? Or are we going to have a half-full square every day? Of course, that's not what we want."

Postponement By One Year

"If we're going to postpone, it's going to be next year. Then it will be July 2022." According to Pierre, shifting the festivals and events to September creates another big problem. "You get in trouble with the stage builders, suppliers of light and sound, the catering and freelancers. Not all of them can organize all festivals in one month."

He is proud of the public's trust and their unwavering enthusiasm. After the cancellation of the concert series last year, according to Pierre Rieu, 82.5 percent of visitors have held onto their voucher for this year. "And we are very proud of that."

Vaccination  Certificate Or Rapid Test

According to Pierre Rieu, it is all up to the politicians now. They can provide clarity, for example by deciding that events can continue if visitors can provide a negative test result or a vaccination certificate in advance. "Then we will be the first to start planning immediately. Because that we can get sorted out."

"And if it's not July, we'll be there in December. Then we'll start with the Christmas concerts in the Netherlands," he suggests optimistically.

Thanks to Ineke for the article and John's translation