The Liberation Festival in Assen says it is ‘bothered’ by the new catering pavilion at the Baggelhuizerplas. Organizers of the party on May 5 and Beach Club Zand-Erover will meet this month to get on the same page.
The beach pavilion at the Asser recreation area is currently under construction and should be fully operational during the Liberation Festival in two months. Because Zand-Erover is located in the middle of the festival site, the beach club and the Liberation Festival have to join forces organizationally.
But that turns out not to be that easy in practice, says Liberation Festival chairman Gerrit Boes. “I want a clear policy across the entire festival site regarding security, alcohol, use of glasses and more,” he says. “It is important to coordinate this with Zand Erover, but she does not want that. This way I cannot guarantee public order and safety and that is bothering me.”
In addition, Boes says, he fears that Zand-Erover will make a hole in the budget of the Liberation Festival. “Because everything that the beach club takes out of the festival disappears from our budget,” he says. “We have to knock on the door of governments to get everything done, and then a gentleman comes along and says he is going to make a profit.”
With that ‘sir’, Boes refers to catering entrepreneur Erik de Haan. The operation of Zand-Erover is in his hands. Boes fears that De Haan mainly acts for commercial motives, but according to De Haan this is not the case at all. He therefore speaks of ‘a storm in a teacup’. “We really don’t need to make a profit, we just won’t subsidize the festival,” he says.
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