Beirut nightlife in ruins after explosion: key entertainment industry may not recover, with many reluctant to rebuild
- Beirut has endured decades of civil war, assassinations and financial meltdown, but the recent blast may kill off its legendary nightlife
- The service industry is a key part of the hard-hit Lebanese economy, and tens of thousands have been left jobless
A cosy Beirut bar, Tenno once hosted a dog’s birthday party, vinyl record nights and stand-up comedians. Those days are gone. Its doors collapsed and glass shattered in the huge August port explosion that killed at least 180 people and turned one of Beirut’s most popular pub streets into a disaster zone.
“We plan to rebuild … We owe it to ourselves to not let things end this way,” says Mohamed Soliman, 28, one of the owners of Tenno, which opened around two years ago. Money for repairs has poured in through online crowdfunding.
Many others will not rebuild, however, because it no longer makes sense to invest in a country where years of work can vanish in seconds.
“We’ve been saying we’re all on the verge. I don’t know how we made it this far. We’re not going to last,” says Maya Bekhazi of the union of nightclub, cafe and restaurant owners.
It is a tired cliché that the nightlife in Beirut – billed worldwide as a party destination – stands as proof of the capital’s ability to endure one crisis after another. So much so that Lebanese have made a joke of their fabled resilience, which has portrayed them partying through wars and assassinations, when behind the glitz the reality is much grimmer.