The arrival of the guarantee plan for the events industry is an “important step” for concert organizer Mojo. The real preparations can now begin, says director Ruben Brouwer. The first test festivals this weekend in Biddinghuizen are hopeful according to him.
“I think it is going very well”, says Brouwer halfway through the second day of the festival, on which mainly pop artists are programmed. “You can see from the people that they missed it enormously. Both in front of the podium and behind it. I can only be happy actually.”
Friday the cabinet announced that from 1 July the government will largely guarantee the costs incurred if a concert or festival cannot take place as a result of the corona crisis. A total of 385 million euros will be set aside for this.
Brouwer is happy that there is now something Mojo can fall back on, but that does not mean that all kinds of things are being organized right now. “We have to look at each event to see if it is meaningful and realistic,” he says. “A few days ago we had to postpone North Sea Jazz. Great American artists are very important for that festival. You can try that, but you actually know that it will not work.”
Lowlands is a different case
This is very different for Lowlands, according to Brouwer. “The Lowlands audience has a lot of need for a festival and a party anyway. That is only at the end of August, which is slightly different from July. Then I think: that is feasible. We will do everything we can to achieve that. And if it doesn’t work, we have at least tried it. “
In the preparation, Mojo takes at least a few things from this test weekend. “For example, we are now looking at whether people adhere to certain measures. We see that mouth masks are no longer worn after a certain moment. You can therefore check that off in this setting. At a concert where you are sitting, it is very different.”
Brouwer does not see much difference in terms of behavior between the Ziggo Dome audience and the festivals. “People experience it just as intensely and are just as exuberant. That’s really cool, that’s what you do it for.”
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