The future of the Breda Singelloop hangs in the balance. The entire board has resigned from its duties. According to the nine volunteers, organizing a party with 25,000 participants and around 50,000 spectators has become too complex and too risky these days.
Chairman Willem Butz calls the decision difficult, but inevitable. “I’ve been doing this for fifteen years, some of us much longer: it’s your baby.” Yet the entire board supports the decision to stop. “It is no longer responsible to realize an event that has become so big in our spare time,” says chairman Willem Butz.
Why is the Singelloop in danger of stopping?
In recent years, the Singelloop has grown into a gigantic event, which brings with it more and more rules. The pressure is increasing, especially in the field of safety. “That is completely right, safety comes first, but almost everyone on the board has a job next door,” Butz explains. “Organizing this on the side is not possible at the moment. That is a responsibility that we do not want to take.”
The chairman emphasizes that there have never been any major incidents, but that it takes more and more time and effort to keep it that way. According to him, the changing world and society play a role in this. “We always close the entire city center. That also means inconvenience for people who live there and want to get in or out by car.”
In the past, the organization could count on understanding. “Now people put a fence aside themselves and drive on. If we say something about it, we are confronted with (verbal) aggression. Traffic controllers are also increasingly being addressed in an unfriendly manner.”
Can anyone save the Singelloop?
Whether the riders will still travel through the streets of Breda next year now depends entirely on who dares to take over. “We would like it to continue to exist, but under a party that can work on it professionally,” says Butz. The board is conducting exploratory discussions with potential buyers, “but even for professionals this is not a piece of cake.”
The Singelloop was organized entirely by volunteers for 38 years and was not for profit. This meant that the event remained accessible to a wide audience. “That character must be preserved. Accessibility is part of the Singelloop,” says Butz.
Yet he realizes that change is inevitable. “The world is changing, so an event changes with it. If it takes on a completely different character, then I do not see it as a continuation, but as a new event.”