According to Welcome to the Village’s director Bianca Pander, current noise regulations for Leeuwarden stand in the way of organising festivals in the city.
Translation by Traci White
Last Thursday, the first night of four-day festival, sound equipment had to be turned off due to the event in De Groene Ster violating city noise ordinances. Omrop Fryslân reports that the permitted noise levels during week days is stricter than during the weekend – the festival was able to move forward with its normal programme on Friday, Saturday and Sunday without a hitch.
Pander says that if something does not give, “it will be impossible to organise a festival here. We don’t want to disturb the neighbours, but a festival should be able to decide for themselves how loud they can be, within reason.”
But the festival director says that considering moving the temporary village elsewhere is not an option they want to consider. “We’re all from this area originally, so we want to keep it here. That presents some challenges, but we’re willing to take them on.”
According to Pander, the festival was still a big success this year, despite the bumpy start. “We had loads of visitors, including a lot of Leeuwarders who came by to show their support.”
Photo source: Wikipedia/Ruben van Vliet
