The sun shone brightly yesterday, a marriage proposal was made on the main stage, the visitors went crazy and the deposit return machine ensured clean streets.
The organization of Bevrijdingspop in Haarlem looks back on a successful 46th edition a day later. “It was a very nice edition, a fantastically beautiful day. We were very lucky with the weather,” says Bernt Schneiders with pride, who will retire as chairman after this edition.
125,000 visitors
The organization says that Bevrijdingspop has attracted 125,000 visitors to the city this year. According to Schneiders, this is less than last year, when 143,000 visitors attended the festival. According to him, this is because May 5 was not a day off for everyone this time, for the first time in years.
Following the crowds last year, when chaos ensued after Roxy Dekker’s performance, the organization additional measures taken. For example, the organization has improved the entrances and exits on the site, installed more cameras and deployed extra security guards to manage the flow of visitors properly. During ‘extreme crowds’ the site in Haarlemmerhout can be closed.
Have these measures helped? “It was busy, especially during the Bankzitters show, but everything went very well,” says Schneiders. “There have been no situations where people felt unsafe. Security guards also managed the flow of visitors.”
No oppression
A reporter from NH saw in the afternoon that it was very busy, especially during the Bankzitters show, and that there were long lines. Security called on visitors to take a step back, because children were in danger of being oppressed.
Schneiders announced a day later that he believed there had been no oppression. “If it is very busy, security guards may well have shouted: stop, it is too busy here. But as far as we can see now, the evaluation with emergency services and security has yet to take place, this has really not happened,” says the chairman.
The hundreds of volunteers who make the festival possible every year also look back on this edition with satisfaction. According to the organization, everyone walks with one big smile around. “They started the completion of the site with great enthusiasm, a job that will take days. Everyone enjoyed it and everything went smoothly. It was pleasant on the site and there was a nice atmosphere,” said a spokesperson.
Freedom meal
This year the festival was all about connection, which was evident in various places on the site. In collaboration with the COA, the organization organized a so-called Freedom Meal for children from the asylum seeker center next to the site during the Children’s Festival.
“The organization found it unthinkable to celebrate freedom, while people live nearby who have fled their country because of lack of freedom. During the Freedom Meal, children decorated their own sandwiches with festive fillings, colored them together and ended dancing to music,” the organization said.
