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Again no Vierdaagsefeesten, but still a bit of a party

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Posted: 29 April 2021, 14:12 hour

In good spir­its we have been work­ing on var­i­ous sce­nar­ios to ensure that the Vier­daagse­feesten could take place in what­ev­er form. Three plans have been pre­pared: a full edi­tion, a Vier­daagse­feesten fes­tiv­i­ties with social dis­tanc­ing rules, and a form of atmos­pher­ic expe­ri­ence. Unfor­tu­nate­ly, only the last sce­nario remains: there are no Vier­daagse­feesten this year, but we will still be host­ing a lit­tle par­ty from 17 to 23 July 2021.

The chance of a reg­u­lar Vier­daagse­feesten grad­u­al­ly decreased. The open­ing strat­e­gy of the nation­al gov­ern­ment as it is now in place offers too lit­tle cer­tain­ty for events in the begin­ning of the sum­mer, so we must con­clude togeth­er with the munic­i­pal­i­ty and emer­gency ser­vices. Wait­ing any longer with the con­crete prepa­ra­tion of the largest event in the Nether­lands is unfor­tu­nate­ly no longer an option, and post­pone­ment to the autumn also appears to be impossible. 

Alter­na­tive­ly, togeth­er with the orga­niz­ers of our stages, we had also pre­pared a sce­nario where every­one can keep a dis­tance from each oth­er. Sit­ting on the ter­races of our beau­ti­ful city and in a num­ber of gat­ed parks and squares, enjoy­ing cus­tom pro­gram­ming. Every­thing with reser­va­tion and tick­et sales in advance, a lim­it­ed edi­tion”. Unfor­tu­nate­ly, the cur­tain is now final­ly falling for that sce­nario: it has been dis­cussed exten­sive­ly with the emer­gency ser­vices and the munic­i­pal­i­ty, but the plans appear not to be fea­si­ble due to the cur­rent coro­na situation.

The emer­gency ser­vices advise the munic­i­pal­i­ty on safe­ty and health issues at events. It is esti­mat­ed that the appeal of the Vier­daagse­feesten, despite a lim­it­ed edi­tion, will lead to uncon­trol­lable num­bers of peo­ple in the city cen­ter this sum­mer. So the prob­lem is not the plans them­selves, but a fear of the man­age­abil­i­ty of the whole: how many peo­ple will come to Nijmegen, even if they don’t have a tick­et? What if the then applic­a­ble coro­na rules are not suf­fi­cient­ly maintained?

The Vierdaagsefeesten is an unique festival: the entire city is our event area. People not only party there, but also live, work and shop. We are very proud of that open character and the appeal of the parties, but that also means that we cannot install a fence and entrance gate and thus cannot ensure that only a limited number of people will be present. The 'limited number' for which we have made plans, still some 40,000 people per day, would also be too large for the risks that lie ahead. Waiting any longer before taking a decision was also not possible for this limited variant, which also requires preparation time to be able to organize everything safely and responsibly.

Health of course comes first. That is why we agree with the risk assess­ment, no mat­ter how dis­ap­point­ed we are of course. A huge down­er, not only for us and our vis­i­tors, but also for all cater­ing entre­pre­neurs and cul­tur­al par­ties who have made great plans with us.

What remains is to share the Vier­daagse­feesten feel­ing. That is why, just like last year, we are going to give a lit­tle col­or to the third week of July. We will keep you informed about what is pos­si­ble from 17 to 23 July and cre­ate atmos­phere in the city and online. The first announced relax­ations give good hope for this. We are hap­py to hang the gar­lands with you and toast, live or not, to bet­ter times! We no longer con­sid­er the name Vier­daagse­feesten to be appro­pri­ate here. That is why also in 2021 the fol­low­ing applies: no Vier­daagse­feesten, but still a bit of a party!

Read the press release here (Dutch)

‘t Nimweegs Feestcafé | Arsenaal 1824 | Bar De Regenboog | Credible | De Hemel | Kaaij | Faberplein | Festival op ’t Eiland | Groots in de Grotestraat | Grote Markt | Hennes Latin Stage | Hertogplein | Hubert | Joris Ivensplein Oerhollands | Kelfkensbosgarage | Koningsplein | Manna | Mariënburgplein | Matrixx at the Park | Matrixx Live aan de Kade | Matrixx Rade aan de Kade | Molenstraat | Otis Park | Plein ’44 | Ramblas | Samson | SMKMRKT Labyrinth | Stevenskerk | Valkhof Festival | Van Ouds | Waalkade Centraal | World Street Kitchen | Zomerbar 024

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