More than 30 other event organisations are joining ID&T as co-plaintiffs in its legal proceedings against the Dutch government.

ID&T, known for events such as Mysteryland, Sensation, Milkshake and Decibel Outdoor, announced on Friday (9 July) that it will initiate summary proceedings against the Dutch government over new Covid restrictions, which have been reimposed just weeks after they were lifted.

The parties that have joined the summary proceedings are F1 Dutch Grand Prix Zandvoort, DGTL, Don’t Let Daddy Know, Paaspop, 24-uurs Solexrace, 4PM Entertainment, A Venue Events, Absolutely Fresh, Apenkooi, Apex Event Productions, BeetjeDansen Events, BZB, Chasing the Hihat, De Wijze Uil and E&A.

Elevations Events, Feestfabriek, First Vision, HockeyLoverz, Intents Events, Life Over Future, Minority Events, Nomads, One of the Guys, Par-T, Rebirth Events, Rotterdam Dance Parade, Sensation Events, Sportvibes, Thuishaven Events, Toffler, Trees of Live, UDC, and ZeeZout have also joined.

The co-plaintiffs say that the Dutch government’s decision to categorically ban non-seated public events and multi-day festivals until 14 August is “carelessly prepared and incorrect”.

“IT IS INEXPLICABLE TO NOT HAVE CLARITY OF THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH WE CAN ORGANISE THE EVENT THREE WEEKS PRIOR TO THE EVENT”

The organisers have asked the judge in preliminary relief proceedings for permission to allow public events that meet the Fieldlab conditions.

Fieldlab’s conditions for organising a safe event, without social distancing, are based on findings from three months’ worth of pilot events, and have been endorsed by the Dutch government.

At the present time, Dutch prime minister Rutte said the government won’t give any more clarity until 14 August for events after that date, leaving organisers in the dark.

Ritty van Straalen, CEO of ID&T, says: “We are overwhelmed by the support we received from our visitors, artists and partners in the past days. The fact that so many parties in the market are joining us reflects perfectly what the impact is on the entire public events industry.”

Imre van Leeuwen, managing director at F1 Dutch Grand Prix Zandvoort, says: “As a large-scale sports event, we deal with a long lead time and large financial risks. For us it is also inexplicable internationally to not have clarity of the conditions under which we can organise the event three weeks prior to the event. It’s even more disappointing that, despite the good work of Fieldlab Events and the high vaccination rate the Netherlands has achieved, we may not be able to make the event a huge success with the whole world watching.”

Joop Soree, CEO of The Event Warehouse, organiser of one of the biggest festivals in the Netherlands, Paaspop, and WiSH Outdoor, among others: “We join ID&T and the imminent summary proceedings because of the enormous (financial) consequences caused by the lack of clarity. We need to know where we, and the events industry, stand.”

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