The national start of the cultural season will take place in Eindhoven next year. The event, previously known as ‘the Uitmarkt’, left Amsterdam last year after 45 years to become a traveling festival. In 2026, Eindhoven will be the second host city to host the foretaste of the cultural season.
The City of Light takes over from Apeldoorn, where this year’s event attracted 75,000 visitors in one weekend. During the festival, cultural institutions from all over the country, such as museums, theaters and theater groups, show what they have in store for the coming season.
Too much Amsterdam
Previously, the Uitmarkt had been organized in Amsterdam since 1978, but after corona this was stopped. “It no longer fits the times. Too many brochures, too many stalls and too much Amsterdam,” Geerte Udo of the Uitmarkt foundation previously told NOS. The festival will now be a traveling affair.
“Our city is a perfect backdrop for the best of local and national talent,” says Eindhoven councilor for Culture Saskia Lammers. “Here we celebrate culture.” During the previous edition of ‘De Opening’, as the festival is now called, the emphasis was also on the local cultural sector of the host city. Lammers’ colleague in Apeldoorn is happy that Eindhoven is taking over: “Together we prove that culture also vibrates outside the Randstad and brings people together.”
Budget
The event takes place on the last weekend of August. For the first time this year, in addition to Eindhoven, a number of ‘satellite cities’ will participate in the opening. It is not yet known which cities these will be. The budget for the major event will soon be presented to the city council; the price tag for the municipality is still unknown.