Marchers demand return of Dutch music fests

AMSTERDAM — Dutch music fans have been banned for months from going to large-scale festivals due to coronavirus restrictions. On Saturday, the festivals came to them.

Hundreds of performers and festival organizers held marches through six Dutch cities on Saturday to protest what they argue are unfair restrictions that have forced the cancellation of summer festivals and other events.

Thousands of people attended one of the “Unmute Us” marches in Amsterdam, walking and dancing behind a convoy of trucks carrying DJs and sound systems pumping out music.

Leonie der Verkleij, who works in hospitality services at events, was among those marching in Amsterdam.

“The festival industry feels like an unwanted child,” she said. “It feels like all sectors are important except ours.”

Amsterdam municipality appealed mid-afternoon for no more people to join the march as it was too crowded.

The Dutch government has banned large-scale events such as festivals until at least Sept. 19 amid fears over the spread of the highly infectious delta variant. One-day events with a maximum of 750 visitors are allowed for people with a COVID-19 app showing they have been vaccinated, have recently tested negative or have recovered from a case in the past six months.

Organizers of Saturday’s protest want the ban lifted on Sept. 1. They point to overseas events and the return of crowds to soccer stadiums — with proof of vaccination, recovery from COVID-19 or a negative test — as evidence that people can congregate in large numbers without infection numbers surging.

Jasper Goossen of Apenkooi Events, which organizes dance festivals, said hundreds of festivals have been cancelled due to the pandemic, crippling an industry that employs 100,000 people.

“There are so many passionate people working in this industry and they are all having a tough time. We want to move forward, not stand still,” he said.

Festivals are a traditional feature of the European summer, but many have been cancelled or postponed this year. In England, many of the biggest events, such as Glastonbury in southwest England and BST Hyde Park in London, were cancelled for the second year running.

But the lifting of all remaining restrictions on social contact in England on July 19 has at least allowed some to take place.

In France, festivals are allowed for people with a virus pass showing they are fully vaccinated, recently tested negative or recently recovered from the virus. Yet many organizers have reduced the maximum number of people per day.

Nearly 18,000 people have died in the Netherlands of COVID.