3 minute read
EJUP ABDILI
Ejup Abdili, who owns four venues--including Konrad and one of Luxembourg’s oldest bars, Steiler--shares his thoughts on nightlife and how residents’ desire for fun has been rekindled by covid.
Where in Luxembourg can be considered the party ‘capital’? I’d say the party ‘capital’ of Luxembourg switches from one place to the other based on two seasons. In wintertime, the capital for parties is more in Luxembourg City. And then, in summertime--because of the weather, more spaces with terraces and so on--I would say it’s Luxembourg City but also other cities, as they offer very interesting activities.
In summer, there are several opportunities for open-air parties, and normally, this is what people want. For example, if we consider the south, we have Esch-surAlzette as the European Capital of Culture this year and the music festival [Fête de la Musique] happening in Dudelange. I also know friends organising events by the Moselle… there are different options.
In one word, I think Luxembourg has a lot to offer--but this will improve over the next few years as more and more people decide to live here. Every year, I see more interesting offers from the horeca sector, with more entrepreneurs entering the Luxembourg market and opening new venues.
Did people’s interest in nightlife pick up after the ease of covid restrictions? I think that these two years of the pandemic brought opportunities and [increased] people’s will to enjoy life a bit more. There is still some fear because covid has not completely disappeared, and I see people still fear that it may come back. And, because of this, there’s the will to enjoy the freedom and tranquillity that we have right now. So the pandemic has changed many things in our attitude towards social life and going out. I see that people are more eager to spend time with their friends, to spend time in the cafes, to go out and just enjoy life more.
How about older people? Is there a vibrant nightlife scene for older clubbers, for example? In Luxembourg, you see a lot of young people who go to study abroad, but then you have people between the ages of 26 to 30 years entering the job market. And, well, there is that saying that once you reach around 30, you tend not to enjoy clubbing like in other moments of your life--and maybe because of this, there’s a lack of places for older people in Luxembourg. Nevertheless, I’ve seen some changes and improvements just after the pandemic. People around their 30s started having the will to go clubbing, and so you see a few people who are not bar or club owners launching some projects to invite DJs and organising parties in different venues. Clubbing for people in their 30s or older is interesting because, I think, these sorts of people want something more in the sense that they don’t want a normal club… For the moment here in Luxembourg, we need to work a bit more on that offer.
What kind of new offers would you like to see? I would like to see more original and new ideas coming to Luxembourg. There is a lot going on, and you have the traditional shows… but I would like to see more creativity and interesting things coming up. For entrepreneurs, events are useful to bring in profit, but we also need to remember that beyond profit, we are here to contribute to the development of society and to give something in terms of culture and life in the city of Luxembourg. Open mics and jam sessions are great, [as] they give people the chance to express their talents, but let’s try to go beyond that.
Together with his brother, Ejup Abdili runs Konrad, Steiler, Lady Jane and MontChalet.
