Loveland festival visitors angry with organization due to crowds: “Cremation stand near stage”

A number of visitors to the King’s Day festival Loveland in East are not happy with the organization. Many complaints are about the long lines to even enter the festival site, but once inside it turned out to be far too busy. The organization apologizes and says it is due to ‘unannounced security measures’ by the municipality.

The sold-out festival at Middenmeer sports park in East has been around for a number of years, but according to visitors to the last edition, it was very poorly organized. “It took almost an hour and a half to get in. Then there were unprecedentedly long lines at the toilets, the bars were very busy and most of the tents were overcrowded,” says one of the visitors.

The long line to enter the festival site was a problem for many visitors. “I’ve never seen such a terribly organized entrance and exit to a festival. Especially for a renowned festival like Loveland. A queue of an hour and a half to get in,” said another visitor.

Also busy inside

But once inside, the crowds did not stop for the visitors. Some respond that it took them twenty minutes to get a drink, others say they didn’t even dare to wait in line. “An hour in line for a hamburger and slow service that was more concerned with each other than with the customers.”

Many complaints were also received about the tents where performances took place. “The stage was packed with people.” Another visitor felt so hot in one of the tents that he described it as a ‘crematorium stand at Greenhouse’, which was one of the stages on the site.

According to the visitors, the crowds were again noticeable afterwards. “When I went home, I was almost crushed in a crowd of people at the lockers. People couldn’t move or breathe, it was really shocking.” Another festival goer said he had ‘never experienced such a bizarrely dangerous situation’.

‘Unannounced measures’

The Loveland organization says that they are ‘aware’ that it took far too long for many of the visitors to enter the site. “That was due to unannounced increased security measures imposed by the municipality.” Loveland says they have done their utmost to resolve the matter and that they “regret” the situation. In the coming weeks, the organization will look to find a way to make up for the problems.

The municipality disputes that there were ‘unannounced security measures’. “Although there are stricter rules for events and extra supervision is being exercised, the rules for visitation are no different than last year. All these measures are included in the permit, so the organizer knew what he had to prepare for. During the inspection However, it turned out that this was not properly implemented by the organizer. They were confronted about this and it was adjusted,” said a spokesperson for cultural councilor Meliani.

According to the municipality, it is up to the organizer to organize an event in such a way that waiting times for visitors are as short as possible. “But it must be safe, including by checking visitors for possession of weapons or drugs. It is the municipality’s job to monitor this, and organizers know they can expect that supervision.”