The liberation festival in Groningen remains free for everyone. Thanks to money from the government, the financial headaches for this year’s edition have been removed and organizer Ebel Jan van Dijk can get started with the program.
The fourteen festivals in the country will together receive 1 million euros from The Hague. Each festival receives almost 40,000 euros, plus an additional amount to close shortages. A very welcome financial injection, says festival director Ebel Jan van Dijk.
Although the precise distribution of the total amount has yet to be made, the fact is that the money from The Hague largely removes Van Dijk’s financial headaches. Partly due to an evacuation due to severe weather during last year’s festival, the organizer was faced with a budget deficit. According to him, support from The Hague is therefore essential.
“It is also an important signal, because they endorse the value of the festival. It has also been stated that they want to maintain the festivals for the longer term and we want to create a vision for this together.” That is urgently needed, says Van Dijk. “The festival in Zeeland went bankrupt last year, Utrecht almost didn’t happen and we had an eviction.”
Nobody wants a slimmed-down festival
In festival land, costs are increasing all the time. A regular festival can increase the ticket price for higher income, but the liberation festival does not have that option. In 2022, Groningen did a trial with 5 euro tickets, but the conclusion was that the festival should remain free of charge. “And we also want to keep the catering prices accessible,” says Van Dijk, so that button is hardly possible to turn.
In the current festival landscape, you can only get lower costs with a rundown festival: fewer stages or fewer (major) acts. Something no one wants. Not the organizer, not the artist and not the audience.
First acts have been recorded
Van Dijk: “The Hague has now clearly said that they want to work with us to find a long-term solution. I have confidence in that. We are a festival organized without profit. Our interest is a good, safe and substantively strong festival for the City and Ommeland. But then you need broad shoulders to help you, and with the support of the government, those shoulders have become a little wider again.”
In Drenthe, the festival organization announced the first names last week. In Assen, Jett Rebel, Merol and Typhoon are some of the main acts. Groningen is not there yet, says Van Dijk. “We have been lobbying for extra support since May last year,” he explains. We had to wait for the outcome. It is there now.
“From there we can work on the programming and what the festival should look like.” But that doesn’t mean nothing has been done at all. “The outlines are already in place, discussions are taking place and the first bookings have been made,” says Van Dijk. But unfortunately he doesn’t reveal a tip of the veil yet. “We will present the program at a later time.”