Not 14,000 visitors, but possibly 25,000? No problem. Also artists on Sunday? Fine. “The residents of Grolloo have no problem with the Holland International Blues Festival expanding,” says Frans Hofsteenge of Café Hofsteenge. “As long as no rabble comes to the village.”
About seventy residents gathered in Café Hofsteenge last night. Director Jan Willem Luyken of organizer Mojo traveled to Grolloo with some colleagues to explain and answer questions about the plans for the blues festival. “Most visitors came mainly out of interest,” Hofsteenge reflects. “They wanted to know more about the line up during the upcoming edition.”
After six editions you can say that the Holland International Blues Festival is here to stay. It is the same for organizer Mojo. But to keep the festival profitable, the organization wants to have the opportunity to expand. Moreover, she wants the zoning plan to be changed so that they do not have to sit down with the municipality about this every year. But then the people of Grollo must be open to this.
As a partner of Mojo, Hofsteenge itself is involved in the plans. “The plans mention 25,000 visitors, but that is not the expectation. It only gives room to grow. Mojo does not want the festival to become very big. It should remain a blues and Americana festival. But the intention is that there will be more comfort for visitors. More food stalls and more seating areas.”
According to him, residents of Grolloo have no problems with it. “There were some critical questions and that’s good. People don’t want scum in the village here. That’s why a good blues line-up is important. For example, there shouldn’t be any crazy heavy metal bands. We got that promise from Mojo.”
“But the residents here are especially proud of their festival,” continues the café owner. “Everyone embraces the festival, people love it. You can see this every year in the number of volunteers who register. And if there are any critical voices or questions in the near future, they can always come to me. leave it to the organizer.”
According to Hofsteenge, a possible extension to Sunday, as the festival currently runs from Thursday to Saturday, is also no problem in the village. He is happy with it. “That means that if you can book a major artist who is only available on Sundays because of a tour, you can capture them. That’s just great.”