21 Dec The Future of Partying: When and Where Will COVID Leave Us
Most people who love to spend their weekends partying in New York, clubbing in Miami, or enjoying nightlife in Las Vegas have found 2020 to be the crappiest year on record. Partying and clubbing are cancelled, and even festivals are so carefully monitored that they take a lot of the spontaneity and atmosphere out of them. Yet, with 2021 on the horizon, many are wondering how nightlife is going to make a comeback. And, when it does, what is it going to be like?
Get ready for bubble planning
A lot of the changes to make partying a reality again will have to do with bubbling. When you are looking to head to a club or a bar, many of the bouncers and other officials will be checking licenses and identifications to make sure that you’re arriving with people that are in your bubble. In some cases, such as restaurants or eat-in bars, you’ll only be able to enter and sit with people in your bubble.
In other spots, you’ll need to plan to have a steady 20 bubble. AKA, get ready to party and celebrate with the same 20 people over and over again. You won’t be able to mix or mingle with other people at clubs or bars, keeping engagement as bubble-centric as possible to minimize unnecessary risk or exposure.
Another aspect with the future of partying is that nightlife is one of those “peripherals” that no one really wants to talk about.
There are plans in place for wage subsidies, healthcare, school systems and even curbside groceries. Yet, clubbing and entertainment — including music festivals and concerts — get pushed to the side over and over, because the focus is always on something else.
The officials in health and safety rarely acknowledge the difficulty for club owners and party planners because, simply, no one really knows what to do about this people-based and crowd-centric line of business. How can crowded events still happen in a modern world that no longer deems crowds to be safe?
The good news is that nightlife professionals such as bar owners know that, if they can be given a chance, they can survive COVID and continue to offer a safety place to enjoy some great music, drinks and maybe even dancing. With patience, planning and time, nightlife will return to our to-do list, even if it looks a little bit different. The more we learn about the coronavirus, the more that we can use to make our futures safer and that, in turn, will bring back our ways of entertainment again!