The fair in Beek en Donk starts on Friday, but hospitality entrepreneurs and fairground operators are not exactly in a festive mood. The newly renewed Piet van Thielplein appears not to be practical for the attractions: the space is tight and the hospitality tent can no longer be seen from the fair. “The municipality did not think about this well.”
Café owner Helmut van Schijndel is one of the organizers of the hospitality industry at the fair. Yes, he is really there, but you have to look well. Because the tent where a party is celebrated for four days is not visible this year from the fair. “The tent is completely hidden behind the attraction De Rups,” says Van Schijndel. “If you walk around at the fair, you don’t see it.”
That is very unfortunate, says the manager. “Our terrace looks out on the back of the caterpillar, really a shame. The attraction would actually be turned, so that we saw a little more of the front and the tent was better to see for the fairground people. But unfortunately. We are now going to put a sign on the fairground in the hope that extra people will come to cost us a lot of money.”
“It looks beautiful, but it is a drama for the fair.”
This problem was not there in previous years. Due to the renovation of the square last year, the space between the attractions has become much tighter. “Perks have been laid,” says Van Schijndel. “It looks beautiful, but for the fair it is a drama. People have to walk between the iron wiring and there is less space, so that the attractions are very close together.”
Fair operators are also not pleased with the new classification. “The cakewalka dense attraction, stands with the back to us, “says Chris Eckelboom, operator of the bumper cars.” That is why we are at the back of a corner and people see only a small piece of our attraction. That’s great. The question is whether visitors take the trouble to walk to us. The municipality did not think about this well. “
According to alderman Ron van den Berkmortel of the municipality of Laarbeek, the setup was made and signed in consultation with the Kermisbond. “We already shared that drawing with the fairground operators weeks ago,” he says. “This is the first time that the fair takes place on the new square. Then it is always a moment to see if it all fits. When you are building, you will always come across things that you might have done differently or have to do differently on the spot.”
“If improvements are needed for next year, we will still discuss that.”
An important reason for the other layout of the attractions is that a water collection has been made under the parking spaces on the site. “We prefer not to set up large, heavy, rotating attractions, because in the long term it can cause problems,” says Van den Berkmortel. “We have therefore taken into account the layout that the attractions are not on the water basin.”
Now turning things around, according to Berkmortel, a difficult story becomes. “That is not feasible and very impractical in terms of time. If improvements are needed for next year, or if operators had wanted a different place, we will still discuss it.”
