The screens are already there and the engine roar of the trucks, which drive back and forth, can clearly be heard in the Twiske. It is still uncertain whether the Het Lente Kabinet festival in Oostzaan will take place. This Friday there will be summary proceedings at the court in Haarlem. Several nature organizations want to stop the festival, but the organization is not too worried.
There has been a lot of talk about festivals in the Twiske in recent years, with many protests and a petition. The Welcome to the Future festival in the Landsmeer part of the Twiske has already announced that the next edition will be in July the last will be†
The Hart voor het Twiske foundation is the most vocal opponent of the festivals in the nature reserve. Activist Theo van Gelder assists them. He has a lot of experience with going through permits when it comes to festivals, especially in Friesland. “It’s not about stopping festivals for me,” he says. “Festivals are fine, but you have to hold them in places where nothing grows and blooms, not in Natura 2000 areas.”
Twiske in bad condition
He is looking forward with confidence to the summary proceedings that will be filed on Friday. Both the environmental and nature permits for the festival are discussed there. “The problem is that the area is in a very bad state. There are a number of animal species that need to be saved.” This is not going in the right direction in the Twiske for many species. “That means that Europe does not allow you to do anything that could have a negative impact on those species.”
Despite the summary proceedings, the director of the Spring Cabinet, Boye ‘t Lam, does not see any major problems on Friday. “As an organisation, we find these types of objection procedures very important, because we want all stakeholders to be able to make their voices heard.” ‘t Lam points out that the permits are not simply issued and that this is subject to heavy scrutiny.
In harmony with nature
“If you also look at how long we have been working on independent research with ecologists and the substantiation for it, I see it more as a formality and I have no reason to doubt that this permit was issued incorrectly.”
He says that in recent years there have been big steps have been taken to ensure that the festival runs in harmony with nature as much as possible. This year too, extra work was done, he says: “We have a composting machine on the site where waste is processed, we have started working a lot more with batteries and filters to keep emissions below the maximum. That is not only due to this summary proceedings or the pressure from outside, that is because we also find it very important.”
No big applause
It has not yet received a big round of applause from the activists. Van Gelder says fiercely: “Until now everyone could get away with it by looking the other way, but I think the judge has a different opinion. They will simply apply European legislation in the field of nature protection.”
Hart voor het Twiske calls on nature lovers to come to court prior to the summary proceedings to show that many people are affected. The summary proceedings will start next Friday at 11 a.m. in the Courthouse in Haarlem.