The state government’s November 1 notification, increasing the limit on gatherings in a closed venue to 200, has breathed some life into the events sector, choked for months because of the Covid pandemic.

With the current wedding season playing the catalyst, the giant of social gatherings is slowly waking up from the slumber induced by the pandemic.

The 200-people limit has given event managers some scale to work with. Rishabh Bapna, a popular event manager in Calcutta, said his business was a third of what it used to be during this season. “But things are looking slightly brighter than they did between March and September,” he said.

An Indian wedding is not a one-day affair. Earlier, allied events like sangeet and mehndi had a core group of guests and the wedding and reception were main events for a larger audience.

Now, associated events are being leveraged to suit the needs of the hosts. Wedding planner Prairna Khuller has had clients with a wish list of 1,000 guests. “The wedding is being split into events — mehndi, sangeet, Bollywood night and so on. Around 200 people are being invited to each event, without repetition,” she said.

There are around 15 “wedding dates” between November and December. Many weddings, originally scheduled between April and August but postponed because of the pandemic, have also been re-scheduled for these two months. The logbooks of venues, from hotels to standalone properties, have bookings after a long lull.

Many of the bookings were done before the November 1 notification. But the guest list has gone up since, giving organisers some benefits of scale. A host of vendors — caterers, decorator, florists, musicians and alike — depend heavily on the weddings segment.

The budget of an event with 50 guests and the budget of an event with 150 guests are different. Many families who had earlier planned to settle for a “only family members gathering at home” are now opting for an outdoor venue, said event managers.

The manager of an online aggregator of banquets, with a “pool of around 30 banquets in and around the city”, said most venues had bookings for the wedding dates till at least December end.

Sanjay Karmar, operations manager of Princeton Club, which has five banquets, said he had “around 20 bookings” for November.

But almost everyone this newspaper spoke to said things were far from what they used to be till a year ago.

Pramode Bhandari, area general manager, The Park Kolkata, said he had “some bookings” for November-December but there was “still a long, long way to go”. The hotel has five banquets on offer.

The events are being held but the limited number of guests mean a dip in the business volume. The dip in corporate events is also hurting the segment badly.

Winter is the season for a host of corporate events and parties. That segment is yet to take off this year, said organisers.

Sudipto Hore, the general manager of Regenta Orko’s hotel in Kasba, would host product launches, doctors’ conferences, cocktails and rewards and recognition programmes regularly this season. “They have almost disappeared this year,” he said.

A popular party crooner echoed him. Imran Qaisar, a singer and leader of a musical troupe, has not been able to play at his cradle, the Dalhousie Institute, since the club is still shut.

“Also missing are corporate events, which used to happen one after another this time of the year,” said Qaisar.

But after a long lull, Qaisar is busy again. “Social gatherings are back and my winter calendar is full. Not hectic like it used to be around this time of the year earlier but achchha hai,” said Qaisar.

Birthdays and anniversaries are being celebrated again with close groups of friends and family.

Among events that are still very few are children’s birthday celebrations. Senior citizens are also avoiding gatherings.

The banquet hall at the venue decorated for a party Telegraph picture

This year, December 11 would have marked the 50th marriage anniversary of the parents of a businessman in New Alipore. He had planned a gala celebration at a hotel off EM Bypass. The plan was initially changed to an open-air venue near Science City but was shelved altogether after his father had a bout of viral fever recently.

“My parents are close to 80. I decided not to risk it this year. If things improve, we will celebrate next year,” he said.

Many people, still wary of ventilation and air-conditioning in the context of Covid-19, are avoiding indoor venues, said banquet owners and caterers and decorators.

S. Ramani of Savourites that runs 6 Ballygunge Place, which, apart from the chain of eateries, is also one of the premier catering companies in the city, said the situation was still gloomy. “This time last year, I did not have time to sit down. There were days when I had to handle 10 weddings simultaneously. But this year, there are hardly any orders,” he said.

“People are still avoiding banquets because they are scared of the possible transmission of the virus through air-conditioning,” he told Metro.

One of his clients organised his son’s wedding with “only 20 guests who were served dinner” on Sunday. Around 50 other guests were given food packets, said Ramani.

But considering how the sector had been crippled from March-end to October, any positive movement was welcome.

Many people lost their jobs, many were sent on furloughs and many had to take pay cuts. The renewed business offers a glimpse of hope for these people.

Avijit Mukherjee, in charge of club banquet sales of a well-known hospitality group, summed up the mood of the sector. “This is such a year that reaching break-even would be a great achievement. For months, we have reported to work. Full days were spent sitting idle at the venues. Many of my colleagues have had a pay-cut. Back to being busy after such a long lull is a great feeling.”