They would dance, the twenty thousand visitors to house festival Music On, this Saturday and Sunday in the Meerpark in Amsterdam East. They could have performed on two stages, the Italian producer and house DJ Marco Carola would close both festival days. Could be, because a few hours before the start the message suddenly appeared on information panels in the city and on social media:Music On CANCELLED”.
1Why is it cancelled?
At 10 a.m. Saturday morning, the municipality of Amsterdam revoked the permit for Music On. The first DJs would play at 12 noon. According to the environmental department, the construction of one of the tents in which the performances were to take place was not in order. Event organization Loveland, which organized Music On, would according to city broadcaster AT5 erected a different tent than previously agreed with the municipality. Certain information about the new tent was allegedly not provided, as a result of which the environmental department was unable to make a safety assessment and issued a negative advice. The municipal council took that advice “seriously”.
According to Amsterdam, discussions about possible additional security measures had no effect. “This makes it impossible to guarantee the safety of visitors, employees and artists,” says the municipality. He sees “no way to continue the event”, although that is “of course a huge downer for the visitors and the organization”.
2What does the festival say?
Music On is “overwhelmed with emotions”. The organization calls the cancellation “crushing news”, says he “fought to the extreme”. On Saturday afternoon, Loveland had filed summary proceedings to reverse the revocation of the permit. However, the judge ruled in favor of the municipality and the reasons for that decision will follow at a later date.
Festival director Marnix Bal told the judge that the cancellation could be the death blow for his company. writes Het Parool. “In thirty years of Loveland we have never built anything wrong. After thirty years of good service, I cannot follow this.”
3And now?
According to local media, only a small number of visitors showed up at the entrance to the festival site on Saturday. The event would normally attract many foreign partygoers, including Britons. Music On’s night program will continue as normal, it will take place elsewhere.
It is still unclear whether visitors will get their money back. A spokesperson for Music On told the ANP news agency that they are “getting started” with what affected festival goers “can expect”. “Today we were mainly focused on whether the festival could still go ahead.”
