Relocate The Maastricht Fair For Rieu

 

Residents In The Center of Maastricht: 

Relocate The Fair For Rieu

Photo: Jean_Pierre Geusens

1Limburg, by Jochem Rietjens: In order not to get in the way of André Rieu and Magical Maastricht in 2021, the ten-day fair on the Vrijthof will have to be relocated just once to another location in the city.

This is a suggestion made by the Inner City Neighborhood Network in the discussion about stretching the Maastricht 60-day events norm.

 Corona Crisis

This standard has been set to keep the number of events on the historic town square within its bounds. However, due to the corona crisis, the mayor and the aldermen of Maastricht would like to extend that to 71 days in 2021.

Against

Magical Maastricht can then be extended by three days and gives André Rieu eight extra playing days. Due to the corona pandemic, these activities could not take place in 2020. The PvdA (Political party) has already announced that it is dead-strong against this expansion. The Maastricht Social Democrats believe that the interests of the residents of the city center should not be subordinated to the economic interests of the stand-alone violinist.

Letter

Those residents are now involved in the discussion by sending a letter to the mayor, the aldermen and the municipal councilors of Maastricht. In that letter, the Inner City Neighborhood Network asks not to change the sixty-day norm, but to move the ten-day fair that takes place every year in mid-May on the Vrijthof to a different location.

Alternative Place

Then those ten days will become available on the Vrijthof, and they will be for Rieu and Magical Maastricht, so the Neighborhood Network suggests. Because the network also says that it sees  these events are of great economic value to Maastricht. The residents' network proposes the Frontenpark, the Sphinxkwartier or the Groene Loper as an alternative location for the Maastricht fair.

Fun

The Maastricht Center Management Foundation states in a letter to the Municipal Executive and the city council that it is in favor of the onetime extension of the 60-day standard. The entrepreneurial platform indicates that it somewhat mitigates the negative economic consequences of the corona virus outbreak of 2020, and that it is good for local employment and the residents can enjoy the eleven extra days on the Vrijthof.

On 6 October, the city council of Maastricht will consider the question to extend the 60-day standard for a one time change.

Thanks to John for his Translation Ineke for the article