Mooi Wark, La Fuente, Tony Junior, Bankzitters and The Billy Joel Experience. It is just a selection of the artists who perform during the TT festival. This year it will take place from Saturday 17 June to Sunday 25 June. In addition to new names, old acquaintances also return.
Earlier this year it was announced that the TT week will start on Saturday with a grand opening parade through the city center. This meets the TT City Run in the Torenlaan. In addition, there is a nine-day TT fair and on Thursday evening, June 22, the well-known TT nights will start. The festival will close on Sunday 25 June with the afterparty on the Markt.
In addition to the annual traditions, a few old acquaintances are also returning this year during the festive week, says festival director Jan Gebrand Krol. “For example, the Ferris wheel will return to the Kop van de Vaart and the bungee jump will return to the Kerkplein.” The Ferris wheel is mainly coming back because the people of Assen ask for it, says Krol. “So many people asked if he would come back. And yes, then you just do that for the city.”
A number of new elements have also been added. For example, there will be a silent disco on the Brink on Friday and Saturday, a stage will be set up opposite Bartje and there will be not one, but two evenings of motorcycle entertainment on the Jan Fabriciusstraat.
In those nine days of festival, the motorcycles should not be missing. For example, on Friday there is the tour and the NightRide, where a thousand motorcycles drive through the center of Assen. The TT fair is also back. And this year it will even be a bit bigger. “We are extending the attractions further into the Rolderstraat. So that the center and the fairground are even more connected.”
Krol is hoping for 280,000 visitors a week again this year. To communicate with all these people, the foundation has launched a new app. “The app contains the complete timetable, but also the map. We hope that everyone downloads the app. Because we are a free festival and this way we can communicate with our visitors.”
And that app was launched today together with various catering entrepreneurs. “Because without the catering industry, there would be no TT. Since 2015 we have been working intensively with a number of catering entrepreneurs. They also invest in the programme,” says Krol.