Street artists and street musicians are not welcome in the city center of Amsterdam until 1 November. Because of the coronavirus, it is not always feasible to keep the 1.5 meter distance because of the audience that they often draw. That is in one General local regulation, appears Friday evening after reports from The Parool.
Since the relaxation of the corona measures, mayor Femke Halsema is seeing it getting busier in Amsterdam, especially in the city center. She fears that it will get even busier during the summer, which makes keeping 1.5 meters away increasingly difficult.
“Performances by street artists and musicians at Dam Square, among others, attract a lot of audience, with those present not keeping enough distance from each other.” According to her, the artists cannot arrange that either, because the entertainment is precisely intended to make people think about public performances for a longer period of time.
The city recognizes the importance of the performances, but believes the importance of protecting public health outweighs, the mayor writes.
Wallen and Kalverstraat temporary one-way traffic
With another General Local Regulation, Halsema decided on Wednesday that the Wallen (Friday and Saturday evening) and the Kalverstraat (Saturday and Sunday) are one-way this weekend.
The crowds on the Red Light District will be actively monitored by the municipality in the coming days. If it gets too busy, it can be decided to temporarily close alleys for visitors. Residents can enter and exit the area at any time.
Forty hosts and traffic controllers guide the visitor flows and can dose them in various alleys if necessary. If all this does not help, it can be decided to temporarily close streets in case of serious crowds.
Evaluation after the weekend
With the help of text carts and messages on Twitter and Facebook, the public is informed and warned about major crowds and possible closings. The measures will be evaluated after the weekend with the parties involved, including the retailers’ associations.
It is not yet clear how long most measures will take. Only the ban on street artists is known to last until November 1.
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