Oerol, the ten-day cultural festival featuring music, theatre, dance and expeditions on the island of Terschelling, starts on Friday, 15 June.
Translation by Traci White
Oerol’s artistic director Kees Lesius wants to draw more people between 20 and 40 years old to the island. Oerol, which began back in 1982, has a long standing reputation for having an older-than-average audience, so the festival is mixing things up this year in the hopes that they can entice more young people to visit the island.
There were some ticket sales issues in the lead up to the festival: it was impossible to buy tickets online for several days. Out of 120,000 available tickets, 75,000 had been sold as of Thursday. But the festival organisers have remained focused on coming up with new ways to reach younger festival goes. With that in mind, de Betonning, one area of the island-wide festival, is dedicated to more experimental performances this year.
Producer Farnoosh Farnia, who is responsible for de Betonning area, told Omrop Fryslân that the area will feature more short storytelling and less music, including an unusual stage: a boxing ring where performers can incorporate combat into their acts.
Two of the biggest projects this year are Lân fan taal and Sense of Place. Director Kees Lesius says that the two projects, both of which are also prominent parts of the LF2018 year, will come together in several performances on the island. One such piece – Foreign Tongues by Austrian dance group Liquid Soft – will feature the island’s unique version of the Frisian language.
Another highlight of the festival will be a special performance by The Northern Netherlands Orchestra near the wide expanse of the Groene Strand, close to the ferry harbour of the island. The show, called Solo, will feature the personal stories of the musicians of the orchestra who come from more than 15 different nationalities.
