Zadar Caterers Dance Around Measures, Parties Moved from Clubs to Boats
August 22, 2020 - If you are not allowed to party on land, you can party at sea! That is, if you're in Zadar.
Namely, Slobodna Dalmacija reports that after the National Headquarters banned the operation of all bars and nightclubs after midnight last week, the bar and club owners in Zadar figured out a way to keep the parties going. Now, all the fun (and earnings) from nightclubs and bars have simply moved to... party boats!
As most of the owners had to close their clubs, which left them with a considerable loss in business, two Zadar clubs decided to rent excursion boats for the weekend, which will sail through the Zadar archipelago and act as a floating club.
"The coronavirus should be stopped for all people, but of all the measures that were adopted and in force, the most abused group of people were caterers trying to do something and work," says Pjerino Bebic, co-owner of the popular Zadar club Opera, who explained that the club came up with the idea of a “party boat” as it is advertised on their Facebook page.
"We can’t work at the club so then we partnered with boats. We will organize excursions for our clients and guests. It has nothing to do with a nightclub, but we also need to earn something. This way, we will use our brand to attract people. Unfortunately, we will not use this to attract a large number of people, although we realistically could. We will have a maximum of 150 people on board.
We will adhere to all prescribed epidemiological measures, we will compile a list of all passengers, their temperature will be measured at the entrance to the boat, just as it was measured at the entrance to the club, tables will be at the prescribed distance, and we will finish at midnight because the headquarters informed us to," said Bebic, adding that the event was reported to the Civil Protection as a gathering of people.
"We have done everything so that no one can object to us. We have to work in limited possibilities and now we are looking to do no damage, and the earnings are not great. We have to maintain the brand, and we hope that we will be able to cover all costs," says Bebic.
"I don't want to allude to anything or anyone, but I watched footage from cafes in Austria and Germany, I was also at the Sinjska Alka, where people were having fun and nothing happened to anyone, and I don't know why we can't, according to possibilities and recommendations, work. At our club, we measure temperature, all employees work with masks, we have liters and liters of disinfectant. In a club that accepts 700 people, we let only 200 in because of all the measures imposed. There is no profit in such mathematics, and you must have the same number of employees. We have fully adapted to everything that is prescribed, but let us make money," concluded Bebic.
Along with Opera, the popular Zadar bar Hype also planned a fun tour of the Zadar archipelago.
"We have to work because otherwise, we cannot survive, but we will do everything in accordance with the prescribed epidemiological measures. Just as we’ve been working at the club lately, so will we onboard; measure the temperature of all visitors, distribute masks and gloves, make a list of all those who come, keep a distance between the tables, and everything takes place in the open part of the ship," Hype said, adding that rents, utilities and salaries must be settled, and there is no help from the state.
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