Palace Het Loo forms the heart of Apeldoorn, as if all roads finally lead to the seventeenth century palace. This weekend Het Loo is the stately backdrop of various large music performances during the opening, the successor of the Uitmarkt. On Saturday the Apeldoornse Waylon will perform, on Sunday evening you will receive a taste of the upcoming musical season, presented by Frits Sissing and Marlijn Weerdenburg.
The opening is the new celebration of the start of the cultural season: successor to the Uitmarkt. The organization of the Uitmarkt consciously opted for a new name for a new era. ‘De Uitmarkt’ was no longer of this time as an Amsterdam phenomenon with a predominantly parent and little diverse audience. The opening tackles it differently: a new host city every year, a mix of rural and regional programming and aiming for a younger audience. The municipality of Apeldoorn enthusiastically was the first host city for the new concept.
Quiet start
On Friday, the first day of the opening, it is remarkably quiet. This can be due to many factors: from the changeable weather forecast to unfamiliarity with a new concept and a new name.
In Theater Orpheus many seats remain empty for the folding chair cabaret. “Too bad,” says visitors Ria and Willy, who have been living in Apeldoorn for 45 years. They had expected crowds at the theater, which is why they parked their bikes a little further. Ria read about the opening in door-to-door newspaper Nieuwsblad Stedendriehoek. “Plus: there are plates everywhere,” she says. “If you are a bit of a culture snuff, you still look for what the opening is?” Ria and Willy have planned a busy weekend themselves: Friday to the Marktplein, Saturday and Sunday to Het Loo.
The Uitmarkt heralded the new cultural season for 45 years. Organized in Amsterdam, visitors were able to gain inspiration in a brochure market and experience taste of everything that the new cultural season had in store for them. In 2019, the Uitmarkt attracted 450,000 visitors. The corona years were difficult: high costs, low visitors. The event decided to reinvent itself, says Geerte Udo, director of Stichting de Uitmarkt. Better match the (digital) spirit of the times, no more stalls with paper flyers and brochures. The new name became the fairly literal ‘the opening’. And the target group became younger and wider, says Udo. “There are so many art and culture lovers that you also want to reach in the rest of the Netherlands. The idea is that the people in Apeldoorn are brought an idea through the opening:” Oh how funny, that theater Orpheus. I always walk past it, but have never been inside “. You hope to attract a new audience and show a broader offer.”
From now on the opening takes place every year in another city. As the first host city, Apeldoorn, capital of the Veluwe, offers a large cultural offer and a large dose of enthusiasm, says Udo. “Apeldoorn was the first city to raise his hand. They would like to invest in their cultural offer.
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The opening in Apeldoorn: Vlieve performs on Saturday, on the Marktplein. Photo Dieuwertje Bravenboer
On Friday evening you could visit the Marktplein for a music festival. Visitors Timia and Ineke are hiding for the rain. The people over the age of 70 are from Apeldoorn, they have been friends since their teenage years. Together they like to visit musical events. “Too bad it’s so quiet now, I think that’s because of the weather,” says Ineke. As far as they are concerned, there could have been much more music throughout the city, like in the past during the Night of Apeldoorn. They are enthusiastic about the idea of the opening. “Tomorrow we will go to the Loo, nice to Waylon. We go early, we want good places,” says Timia.
Director UDO notices a great need for a broad festival such as the opening in the cultural sector: “With a collective event you strengthen the power. Everyone can join the same weekend in the same weekend. This way you can share the costs.” She hopes that in three years throughout the Netherlands in the same weekend art and cultural institutions will celebrate the opening of the cultural season.
On Friday evening it breaks open in Apeldoorn. Before the official opening, the square is slowly full of older and young audiences. The Dutch Indiepopband Rondé is the musical main act: “Let you hear, Apeldoorn!” The cultural season is open.