Bevrijdingspop Haarlem, Monday 5 May 2025

It has been years since my last attendance. My guess was pre-Covid. It turns out to be even 2017. 8 Years ago! The sun came out, so it was a good afternoon to cycle over and get into the crowd. Not that there was an artist I wanted to see, no, just for fun. In the evening there are a few acts that could be interesting, but because of a previous appointment that is not possible.

In the past it was busy, but in the afternoon it was always possible to get fairly close to the stage and be close to the beerstand. Today, it was madness. A long line to get in, a line that later when friends of friends wanted to come in, could not conquer. They were still not into the grounds after 45 minutes. Even standing completely at the back of the field, plus the road and side walk, we were still slowly but surely being pushed back in the direction of the fence. Faintly some boink, boink, boink, rhythm came by, scattered by the wind. For someone unfamiliar with the music there was nothing discernable. Then some community singing started, so to hear mostly by girls, followed by a shrill shouted thank you and Roxy Dekker's show was over. She must be immensely popular, because I've never seen it so filled, so early in the afternoon. I saw little girls crying, with mothers not able to protect them or in case of some, too busy with friends or cell phones to mind their offspring being quashed by grown ups who can't see people this small in a  crowd, just a space to move into that is  not a space after all.

Getting out was a challenge as well. Being tall, I can overlook most of the crowd, spot the open spaces, while trying to mind people much smaller in front of me as well. It took at least 15 minutes to manoeuvre towards the exit closest to us. This was utter madness.

Bevrijdingspop, ("liberation pop") in Haarlem, is one of 14 free festivals that celebrate our freedom. Freedom from occupation, from random terror, from annihilation, from war. This year 80 years. They are a part of remembrance day on 4 May and liberation day, the day the German army surrendered in 1945 in Wageningen in The Netherlands, as few days before Germany surrendered in full. Anciently old veterans were in the country, maybe for the last time. Even at 17 a soldier in 1945 was born in 1928, meaning that soldier is 97 this year.

The messages coming from the past, ring more true than ever in 2025. People do not learn from the past and history does repeat, only with different names and places. Learning takes endless repeating and at times people tend to tire from repetition. Populisme is so much easier to transmit, yet has to be stopped, by repetition and a better narrative. One about freedom from oppression and randomness.

Like all things free, the 14 festivals are dependent on sponsors and a host of volunteers to organise the festivals. Some had announced that this year was the final one, as they could not finance 2026. The government stepped in with a vast sounding, but in the bigger picture small amount for the coming years. Welcome but way overdue.

In Haarlem an opposite may come into sight, an ending because of the huge success. There were simply too many people. This is not sustainable from a security point of view. I hope people had a great time with Roxy Dekker. We decided to call it a day.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght