Extra long fair Wervershoof but ‘few visitors’

An extra day at the fair, who wouldn’t want that? The idea to start the fair on Saturday came from the Behoud Nederlandse Kermissen foundation, which has already established itself there. worked hard for a few years. The politicians in Medemblik now also stuck their necks out for a start on Saturday evening, because ‘the attractions have already been built that day anyway’.

“The choice to start on Saturday has proven itself as a fantastic idea,” Hart writes for Medemblik on social media. Council member Dieter Venema made a round to see how things are going in the village. “Happy children and parents who walked through the fair. As far as we are concerned, the Wervershoof fair always opens from Saturday,” he says.

Packed terrace

Not everyone jumped right in. Like this wondered the hospitality industry whether additional monitoring would be necessary. But the atmosphere was good and everything went smoothly. “There were a few more families around and we noticed that,” says Joost Buis of Hèt Café van Wervershoof. At the beginning of the afternoon, the terrace is already packed. The stage is being prepared for tonight. “We have one act every day, and then I get behind the turntable myself.”

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John Van Dam, has been operating the bumper cars at the fair in Wervershoof all his life, and stepped into the shoes of his father and grandfather. He is amazed at how quiet it is. “This is not the Wervershover fair we are used to. Of course we started on Saturday evening, we really liked it and went full throttle to generate more turnover after corona. I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s very quiet this year.”

It is guesswork as to the cause. “There are a lot of fairground drinks in West Friesland. You sometimes have to pay an entrance fee, you get food and drinks and people linger there. There are drinks of up to 1,000 people. I think we are missing a lot of clientele this year because of that You miss that here at the fair.”

It does worry Van Dam. “I hope that trend will not continue. Because I don’t know if we can still stand here after the difficult years.”

Will there be an extra day of fair next year? “We will argue for that again,” says Van Dam, who, in addition to being a fairground operator, also operates in the foundation for the preservation of Dutch Fairgrounds. “There was a lot of publicity for this year, at least that wasn’t the reason.”