Artists to take to the streets to demand ‘sustainable reopening plan’ for events

The Malta Entertainment Industry and Arts Association (MEIA) will organize a street demonstration to demand a “sustainable reopening plan” for the arts sector, having been discontent with what was presented by the government last week.

Last week’s reopening plan, which will see only seated events with a maximum capacity of 100 people allowed as from July, was described as a “joke” by a group lobbying for the restart of the events sector.

Now, after multiple meetings and the plans published by the authorities, the MEIA said that it was “left with no choice but to call for a demonstration titled ‘Daqshekk Siekta’ on behalf of the people working in the entertainment and arts sectors.”

The demonstration, they said, “will demand that the respective authorities give us a sustainable re-opening plan up till end of year in order for the industry to be able to plan in advance, something that unfortunately enough has not been done on.”

“Considering the current realities, such as the successful vaccine roll out, herd immunity being achieved as well as acknowledging the fact that public health remains a priority, there is no logical reason why the respective authorities did not accept MEIA’s reasonable proposals”, it said.

“This does not reflect other EU trends where the data has showed over and over again that there is no correlation between a spike in cases and the arts and entertainment industry. In fact, all 3 waves of infections happened whilst our industry was shut”, MEIA observed.

The MEIA said that all it is asking for is for its members to be treated equally like other industries. The demonstration is scheduled for Thursday 24 June at 19:00 at St. George’s Square in Valletta.