unmute us tweede protest overleg ministers evenementen festivals

Unmute Us: ‘Consultations between the event industry and Dutch government lead to nothing’

By Wouter de Vink 02 September 2021

Tonight, a conversation between the ministers and some representatives of the Alliance of Dutch Event Builders and Unmute Us has finally taken place. But this consultation about the situation in which the event industry finds itself has led yet again to nothing.

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Ministers Ferd Grapperhaus, Hugo de Jonge, Ingrid van Engelshoven and Stef Blok were present at the meeting. They have now promised to include the arguments from the event industry in the decision-making towards the press conference on the 14th of September: that is in 2 weeks. “That’s great, but in no way a concrete commitment,” Unmute Us says. “That means we will take to the streets again on September 11 for a peaceful demonstration. Because it is still inexplicable that the sector here is still virtually shut down. We will continue until we can finally open at full capacity.”

Dutch event sector speaks up again: join Unmute Us’ second protest on the 11th of September

On Saturday the 11th of September, ‘Unmute Us!’ will take place for the second time. The event industry and visitors are calling on the government to reopen Dutch festivals and events. Leiden, Maastricht and Enschede have joined the second protest march as new cities, while Groningen, Eindhoven, Nijmegen, Utrecht, Rotterdam and Amsterdam are once again taking part in the protests.

More cities are expected to be announced in the near future. In addition, more than 4,000 organizers registered as participants on the 11th of September, a follow-up to the first protest march on the 21st of August. A total of about 70,000 people gathered for this. The message of ‘Unmute Us!’ is clear: “A direct return of Dutch festivals and an end to arbitrariness!”