At 29, Maarten van Asten is the youngest fairground alderman ever in Tilburg. He has been a carnival lover from an early age. That started at the fair in Asten and since his studies he also visits the Tilburg fair. “I don’t think I’ve ever skipped a fair.”
Alderman Van Asten walks with a big smile over the Tilburg fair that has just opened. “It’s allowed again, finally. You really notice that everyone has lived towards it. Me too!” This was already noticeable during the construction where many people came to see. “That’s why we also set up coffee shops.”
“We are the largest, yet it is us knows us.”
Maarten van Asten was born and raised in Asten. It has a real village fair where everyone knows each other. “That feeling is also here, even though we are the largest in the Benelux. People visit each other. I have been meeting friends and family at a pub for years and we then go to the fair, also this year.”
That will be Wednesday when the new fairground alderman celebrates his thirtieth birthday. “I am not an alderman for one day, but just enjoying myself as a visitor.” He also finds this important, because he then experiences the fair just like the tens of thousands of other visitors. “Handy for evaluation.”
“You also have to enjoy being an alderman.”
Fair councilor Van Asten also received advice from his predecessors Erik de Ridder and Rolph Dols. “Just enjoy it and let it wash over you.” He thinks Pink Monday is the most exciting. “Then so many people come. If that goes well, I’m a bit more relaxed.”
The last two years there was the ‘holiday fair’ in Tilburg. It is big, but with all kinds of restrictions and rules to contain the corona virus. “I am very happy that we did, otherwise it would have become very difficult for the operators.”
“Now we are going to show again that Tilburg is the fairground city of the Netherlands.”
According to Van Asten, Tilburg was really looked at in the Netherlands. “If we hadn’t let it go through, many other places wouldn’t have dared either and that would have been a disaster for the operators.”
The new fairground alderman is proud that his city dared to do it. “But now we are just going to enjoy the old-fashioned way again and show that Tilburg is the fairground city of the Netherlands.”
ALSO READ:
Tilburg fair as a festival must attract a lot more audience from outside