Fair alderman Maarten van Asten looks back with satisfaction at this year’s Tilburg fair. A record number of riders participated in the Kermisrun, the annual disabled afternoon had more registrations than ever and more people than ever walked in the Pridewalk on Pink Monday. Yet the alderman dreams of making the fair even bigger and more sustainable next year. “The Tilburg fair is a good place to experiment,” he says on Sunday.
“It has been a great funfair. I have seen many people enjoy,” Van Asten looks back on the last day of the Tilburg fair.
“The weather was not easy the first weekend, but between the showers the visitors managed to find the fair. The last week it was not too hot and not too wet, which caused many happy faces.”
“A huge number of people.”
The fairground alderman also receives positive responses from the operators. “They were very busy, because there were a lot of people on their feet. We hear that the fair was set up well and spacious. Many people also thought about how the fair accessible to people in a wheelchair, for example, he says.
The municipality does not announce the precise visitor numbers, but it speaks of record number with the number of participants with the fair run, the disabled afternoon and the Pride Walk.
Yet not everything went smoothly and there were some incidents such as fights and a stabbing. The lines between the municipality, police and other emergency services are therefore short.
Another incident that impressed was the accident at the attraction the ‘Mega Slide’ where an 8-year-old girl broke her ankle on Thursday. That happened when she went off with a mat of the 14 meter high slide. “Every incident is one too much,” says Van Asten about the accident.
“It’s great that the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority supervises at such a moment. In consultation with the operator, some adjustments have been made to use the mats and after a while the attraction could open again,” he says.
“More people at the fair.”
Despite the success of this fair edition, the alderman of Meer dreams. “I hope that even more people can enjoy the fair in the future. Even people who do not like all the attractions. For them there could be more cultural events such as a Straem Organ or puppet show. The Tilburg Fair is a good place to experiment with that.”
In addition, the alderman, together with fairground operators, is looking at how the fair can be even more sustainable. “The number of diesel aggregates can be scaled back, we can look at the number of power connections and solar panels and the use of waste can be reduced, but many operators are already working on that,” says Van Asten.
For the alderman there is a clearly personal highlight this fair. “It was very special how I took the first steps over the fair with my seven -month -old daughter in the baby carrier,” he says.
The party in Tilburg is traditionally concluded on Sunday evening with the funeral of the fair and the final fireworks. In this live blog you don’t miss anything from the fair.
Read all about the Tilburg fair here.