Jouke Spoelstra, mayor of Westerveld, stood among the audience during The Passion. He looks back on a successful event in Dwingeloo.
“We are very proud and very satisfied, and the reactions were also very nice,” says Spoelstra. “Everyone had a very nice experience and there were no incidents.”
“It was positive that the square was completely full from the start.” Based on the organization’s previous experiences, around 5,000 people were expected. “The positive thing is that many more people wanted to go and we had space for 6,000 people. The pity is that you have to disappoint some people to keep it good and safe.”
“We monitored the flow of visitors from the start and indicated at an early stage that the site was full,” says Spoelstra. “We then indicated outside Dwingeloo that people had better turn around because there was no more room. And that went well and in an orderly manner.”
According to the mayor, Dwingeloo, the municipality of Westerveld and the province of Drenthe have put themselves on the map very well by organizing The Passion. “And that is very important,” says Spoelstra. “We had two goals in bringing in The Passion. That was to show how beautiful the province and the region is in every season, not just summer.”
The second objective was to bring energy to the villages and society, so that we can make something of it together. “And we succeeded,” said the mayor. “There have been many initiatives from people. And you also hear from recreation entrepreneurs that the season starts very early, and that many things were quickly fully booked when it became known that The Passion was coming here.”
