at Macumba, the dancers shared between nostalgia and sadness

Since the announcement of its upcoming closure, customers have been flocking to Macumba to experience the last nights of a legendary nightclub. Between sadness and nostalgia, the evening of Saturday January 25 was full of emotions.

An evening full of emotions. Saturday January 25, during the first weekend since the announcement of its upcoming closure, the Macumba was sold out. On the dance floors and around the bars, regulars, nostalgic people and people who are discovering the discotheque. “There are many of them this evening, at the entrance, the queue is long, it’s proof that they will miss us” proclaims Dimitri Derepas, director of Macumba. Like every evening for the 10 years he has managed the establishment, he surveys the almost 1500 m2 to ensure that everything goes as agreed. In front of the DJ decks, two young girls in their twenties confide their disappointment to the director. “We are disappointed, on February 22 (Editor’s note: final Saturday of Macumba), we are going to cry a lot” launches one of them. “We still have a month to enjoy” retorts the manager. “A month is not a lot, we are regulars. Macumba is the basis, but count on us, we will enjoy it.”

Exchanges of this type have been going on since the press release announcing the end of the last Macumba in France. “We all have heavy hearts. I sense a lot of emotion from customers, they are going to lose something essential for them. Most people like to meet at our house on the weekend, relax, dance before “Everything has a beginning and an end. After almost 50 years, the Macumba of Lille, the last in a long series, will definitely bring down the curtain.” assures Dimitri Derepas.

If, on the slopes, customers always dance with smiles on their faces to the rhythm of the latest trends, the subject of closure is omnipresent. Many of them rely on their best memories to try to forget; for a moment, the sadness that the end of a “mythical place” generates for them. “I have some of my best memories here. I met my husband there who unfortunately died seven years ago. I've been coming to Macumba since I was 18, I'm almost 58, my heart hurts, I'm going to cry on the last evening, that's for sure” says a customer. Over the years and evenings, friendships have been built, couples formed. “I'm proud when couples come and thank me saying: you played a slow song, I invited someone in danger and today, we are married and we have three children, it's priceless” says Riad, one of the club's DJs.

At Macumba for 26 years, first at the bar, then in front of a mixing desk, Riad was overcome with emotion throughout the evening. “I know everyone here, it’s my whole life, it’s hard” he says with misty eyes.

It’s a real cold shower for all employees. Some of them are already thinking about their retraining. Maddy, a bartender at Macumba for 30 years, wants to leave the nightlife world. “I'm very hurt, I got married here. I've known everything, I'm going to retrain in another field now.”

The many customers of Macumba will miss its unique atmosphere mixing generations in two rooms, but also its large space. Edith, 73 years old, has been a discotheque habit for 20 years. She dances there all night, until 6 a.m., she confides with a smile. “I'm from Pas-de-Calais and we don't have much. I lost my husband, I had to stop crying. It's a shame that it's closing, it's a place that please” she adds.

Two young women who are on their third trip to Macumba are dragging their spleen. “It’s family-friendly, you don’t find that elsewhere. In other nightclubs, we’re tight, here, we’re comfortable, the people are nice” they judge. Even if the nightclub closes soon, Macumba will always remain open in the hearts of many customers.