Challenges Facing Dickensnight in Helmond: Rising Costs and Regulations Threaten Event’s Future

1/6 Charles Dickens himself also thinks it is all becoming a bit expensive (Photo: Alice van der Plas)

It is not due to the number of visitors. Every year, Dickensnight attracts between 7,500 and 10,000 visitors in the Brandevoort district of Helmond. But the atmospheric festival is under pressure after more than twenty years. Laws and regulations cause volunteers a lot of headaches. And the costs are skyrocketing.

Every year the Brandevoort district gets an atmospheric touch around Christmas. The lights come on, the stalls appear and thousands of people walk past, looking for Alpaca socks, ugly Christmas sweaters and baking tins.

Dress-up parties, singers and jugglers and the smell of stroopwafels and churros fill the characteristic streets. But it remains to be seen whether the festival will continue next year.

Because chairman Jeroen de Kort of Dickensnight wants to be honest about it. “It costs me more energy than it gives me. Actually, organizing it is not always fun.”

“This year the number of security guards has tripled.”

“The event is becoming increasingly complex. It is also becoming increasingly difficult for us to store our things, for example,” says De Kort. “The costs are also increasing. People used to come to perform because they liked it, but now they charge money for it. Completely right of course, but it all comes down to your shoulders.”

Security also has to comply with more and more rules. “This year the number of security guards has tripled.” That also results in a more expensive price tag. Meanwhile, there is a problem with traffic controllers that he needs to solve. “Parking will also become a real problem soon. The lawn we have now will be home to new-build houses next year.”

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Victorian ladies in the Brandevoort district in Helmond

De Kort does not want to think about becoming even more successful with Dickensnight. “This number is pleasant and it is also feasible for the neighborhood, everyone is very positive about it. Except for a few.”

He points to a smartly dressed, angry-looking man in a top hat. “I will boil you in pudding and bury you with a branch of holly through your heart,” the man snaps at the bystanders. The famous miser Scrooge is on a roll this Sunday afternoon.

“We want to continue for years to come, but I can’t give any guarantees.”

“Dickensnight is really intended for people in the neighborhood and immediate surroundings,” says De Kort. “We only advertise locally. We have experienced that someone had sent a well-intentioned note to a major magazine. Then we got buses full of people, 20,000 visitors! That was not worth repeating. This year there are eighty stalls and that is enough.”

Not for two days with tens of thousands of visitors, as in Deventer. De Kort doesn’t want to think about it. “It’s already causing headaches. If you do it commercially, all those rules and laws are not such a problem, but if you do it voluntarily, it takes a lot of energy.” The organization does not have enough volunteers and is urgently looking for more.

Still, De Kort and his dozen volunteers want to do everything they can to preserve the event. “It fits so well with this characterful neighborhood. We really want to continue like this for years to come, exactly as it is now, but I can’t give any guarantees.”

Busy during Dickens night.
2023-12-17 19:01:15


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