The 44th edition of the Leids Cabaret Festival is cancelled. The organization of the event has said this “after long and mature deliberation” on Monday announced. The competition, one of the major cabaret festivals in the Netherlands, would take place in February 2023. However, the organization sees the potential to grow into a professional comedian with too few participants.
The festival organization considers it its task to “give young comedians a final push” in life as theater makers. The decision to cancel the festival was therefore taken “with a knot in our stomach and pain in our hearts”. The organization also says that it will think about the role of the festival “in this time”, without giving any further explanation.
The Leids Cabaret Festival is one of the most important events for cabaret talent. The first edition took place in 1978. Former finalists include Najib Ahmali, Paulien Cornelisse, Sanne Wallis de Vries and the duo Lebbis and Jansen. Previously, the festival was only canceled in 2021, then due to a corona lockdown.