More Rieu Concerts On The Vrijthof

More Rieu Concerts On The Vrijthof

The 10 day record of Rieu on the Vrijthof is already looking towards 12.

Also the Hotel, Restaurant and Cafe industry. The orchestra leader is not the most affected but is striving for twelve concerts.

The Limburger, by Laurens Schellen: This year too they were hard to come by, tickets to the hugely popular Vrijthof concerts of André Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra. Ten performances in a row, three more than previous years. The almost 120,000 paying fans (on the square and on the specially reserved hotel terraces) were again head over heels, and the city council more than content.

The latter applies to the gender of inn keepers, restaurant and hotel owners in and around the inner city of Maastricht. Not at all that strange, since Rieu and his organization create continuous top earnings in the month of July.

Well now sources state that only the Horeca (Hotel, Restaurant and Cafe)industry alone earns approximately six million Euros per Rieu evening, an amount to drool over. According to a leading hotel owner in the city, the Rieu performances have become even more lucrative for the city than the "golden" ten day TEFAF exhibition, something that a few years ago was believed to be impossible.

Expansion

Enough of a reason for some Vrijthof entrepreneurs, including Henri Hochstenbag from the cafe "In den Oude Vogelstruys" to welcome the idea of expansion in advance during a recent interview with this paper. Everything indicates that Rieu will make this request a reality. Pierre Rieu, son and Production superintendent confirmed the request that his father wants to increase the number of Vrijthof performances next summer to 12, five more than last year. This year we deliberately choose to do only ten in Maastricht. Just to keep the pressure on. Our intensions are to indeed bring forth twelve Vrijthof concert in the summer of 2018. On the condition of course that ticket sales will go smoothly, according to Rieu junior. I believe as far as the Maastricht Horeca is concerned, we can do eighty concerts, he added with a wink.

In a first reaction to Rieu's request for additional concerts, Peter Debets, city councilman, said that the city will look at his request favorably. The great significance and value of André Rieu for our city are beyond any doubt. Of course, as a municipality, we must also keep in line with existing regulations and policy agreements. In short, we're going to get it started.

Policies

One of the municipal policies of which Debets is speaking is the so-called '60-day norm ' which is in force for the Vrijthof. This rule ensures that no more than 60 events will take place on the Vrijthof per year. In December, the city council will confirm the complete events program for 2018. The final approval will come in the course of next year.

Thank you to John for this article and the Translation of it