People dancing on a rooftop in Beirut (Credit: MJ Daoud/ L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — As the countdown to 2024 New Year’s Eve approaches, bars and nightclubs are getting ready for what promises to be a profitable evening, with patrons paying top dollar for a momentary escape from Lebanon’s multiple crises.
In the heart of Beirut, the Seven Sisters lounge and bar is charging up to $3,600 for multi-person booths, or $300 per person for its New Year party; O Beirut charges between $250 to $450 to see Lebanese singer Moeen Shreif; Beirut nightclub B018 is asking between $50 and $70; and Grand Factory, which organizes two parties in two different venues — in the Seaside Arena and in the Grand Factory — is asking attendees to hand over up to $150.
Marco Khadra, who handles public relations for Grand Factory, says that New Year’s Eve prices “are pretty expensive, especially for lounges,” yet they “are still witnessing a significant increase in reservations, and are almost fully booked. People are spending even more. They’re spending like crazy.”
“Expats are back and new faces are shown, so of course we’re going to increase prices,” Jad El-Khalil, 22, student and part-time bartender in bars and clubs, tells L’Orient Today.
Khalil earns $500 monthly from his part-time job and around $35 per pop-up party he bartends for. He says he would pay a maximum of $70 or $80 for a New Year’s Eve party —about 15% of his paycheck.
“This price would get you an okay table,” he claims. “Not the most prestigious one, but still fair for its price.”
Shelling out $100 or more is too much on his income as a bartender, Khalil adds, but says that some of his friends, including those who don’t make higher wages, “do not mind attending much costlier parties, and are actually going to do so” this year.
Pamela Saba, a 28-year-old working full-time, says she finds this year’s prices “quite reasonable.” She earns between $800 and $1,000 per month and attends parties each weekend.
While she says that more than $200 for party entrance is a lot, countrywide inflation means the sky-high pricing for this New Year’s Eve doesn’t come as a shock.
“Ultimately it’s all relative to your income — the more you have, the more you spend,” says Saba.
A Human Rights Watch survey between November 2021 and January 2022 showed a median reported household income of just $122 monthly — less than half of what some people are spending this New Year’s Eve.
Keeping up with inflation
2023 saw a more than 25 percent increase in the number of tourists over the previous year, according to the Lebanese Tourism Ministry — meaning more nightlife revenues despite ongoing economic woes.
“Lebanon’s nightlife found a resurgence in the post-pandemic era,” says Marco Khadra.
The sector has been on the rise ever since, Khadra says — this year more than ever. “We are witnessing unprecedented crowds despite the crisis, with a minimum of four table bookings per week in addition to walk-ins on a regular night.”
Last Saturday, as Haitian DJ Francis Mercier played a dynamic house performance in Grand Factory, the line at the door reached the parking lot, with clientele waiting an hour and a half to get in, Khadra says.
Still though, with worries about COVID-19 and even finances cast aside, “the region’s safety situation is emerging as a more significant concern,” adds Khadra.
Fighting along Lebanon’s southern border since October has raised fears of further escalation, with some airlines even canceling flights to and from Beirut. “We couldn’t get some of the big names we had in mind,” according to Khadra.
Among those who canceled is Italian melodic techno duo Mathame, originally scheduled for this New Year's Eve, whom Khadra says backed out due to safety concerns.
Social pressure, escapism and FOMO
According to Mira Rafeh, a clinical psychologist practicing in Lebanon, societal expectations can pressure people to go to parties, even if it requires stretching one’s budget. And although cheaper options are available, some will prefer opting for the more expensive festivities for a sense of exclusivity and validation.
Case in point: Khadra from Grand Factory says that the cheapest walk-in tickets for Francis Mercier’s show were priced at $30 — these turned out to be the least purchased tickets, while the $40 option emerged as the most popular one among attendees.
Rafeh adds that some parties can allow people “to temporarily escape challenges and hardships associated with the reality that they might be facing,” which leads people to prioritize short-term gratification over long-term financial stability.
Finally, Rafeh says, there is the constant fear of missing out, or FOMO, driven by “social media exposure.”
“We are in an era where we have, all the time, access to what people are doing and where they are,” she says. Special occasions carry a sense of hope and optimism, especially when having family and friends all reunited during the holidays. The fear of missing out on that “can drive people to spend extravagantly on events and activities even if they can’t afford it.”