The festival agenda in the recreational area has become army and army in recent years. Indian Summer Festival was a regular shot for years, but last year Organizer Friendly Fire announced ‘a break’.
“Due to the continuing cost increases, we can unfortunately no longer continue Indian Summer in its current form. We don’t want to ask for even higher ticket and catering prices. We hope that we can breathe new life into the future.”
In addition, Elrow Town also moved away after editions in 2022 and 2023. Organizer Art of Dance found the Geestmerambacht too far away from Amsterdam. The visitors had to travel too far to Elrow. But the question is whether it was only there. Elrow was canceled in 2024 and this year it is nowhere in the Netherlands on the agenda.
Just one big music festival
After the departure of Elrow and the (temporary or not) stopping Indian Summer, there is only one big music festival on the program in Geestmerambacht this year. The Drum & Bass festival Liquicity lands between 25 and 27 July in the recreational area in the west of the municipality of Dijk and Waard.
The fact that only one big music festival is being organized at the Geestmerambacht this year, says Floris de Boer Dig Zonde. The party leader of Lokaal Dijk and Waard had the hope that the site of Indian Summer would be filled and asked the College of Dijk and Waard about this last year. Nothing came out of that.
“That’s super jammer,” says De Boer. “Indian Summer is a big festival, but also very locally. It is like a sort of reunion for people from Dijk en Waard, Alkmaar and surrounding municipalities that come there to see each other again.
It is incredible a shame that it has stopped and that there is no alternative this year. The event agenda this year is very empty, while we want to enjoy a good festival in the summer, also in this region. “