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Kwaku festival faces uncertain future due to rising costs and complexity
🇳🇱 Netherlands /Culture & Society

Kwaku festival faces uncertain future due to rising costs and complexity

From NRC Handelsblad · () Dutch

Translated from Dutch, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified New plan
  • The Kwaku festival in Amsterdam-Zuidoost may cease to exist after this summer due to rising costs and organizational complexities.
  • Organizers cite increasing expenses, stricter regulations, and a more complex operational environment as reasons for the potential closure.
  • The festival, a cultural heritage site for many, particularly those of Surinamese descent, faces an uncertain future as organizers explore alternative formats.

Kwaku, a significant cultural festival in Amsterdam-Zuidoost, faces an uncertain future as organizers announced it may cease to exist in its current form after this summer. The decision stems from a confluence of rising costs, stricter regulations, and increasingly complex organizational demands, making it difficult to maintain the event's affordability and accessibility for its original audience.

It is a piece of cultural heritage. I feel more at ease here than in Oosterhout.

— Weia SchmidtAn attendee expressing the cultural significance of the Kwaku festival.

For decades, Kwaku has served as a vital cultural hub, particularly for the Surinamese-Dutch community. "It's a piece of cultural heritage," said attendee Weia Schmidt, who purchased a ticket for the upcoming festival, her first. "I feel more at ease here than in Oosterhout." Long-time attendee Paul Watson, who has visited Kwaku for 38 years, recalled its early days as a meeting place for Surinamese immigrants who couldn't afford vacations, featuring impromptu tent setups and community sports.

We used to always come together. You could still set up a tent.

— Paul WatsonA long-time attendee reminiscing about the early days of the Kwaku festival.

While the festival has grown significantly, attracting large crowds and well-known artists, its accessibility is now a concern. "Many people in the neighborhood still can't afford to go on vacation," Watson noted, highlighting the cost of travel to Suriname for families. The ticket price of over forty euros for the current edition reflects this shift, with attendees like Henk Lieveld observing, "What you see here is the working class who can afford this."

Many people in the neighborhood still can't afford to go on vacation. If you want to go to Suriname in the summer with a family of three children, you'll spend thousands of euros. For many people, this is their outing.

— Paul WatsonHighlighting the festival's role as an affordable outing for many residents.

Lieveld acknowledged the organizers' struggles with rising costs but deemed a return to a smaller, earlier version of Kwaku "sentimental thinking." He pointed to the ongoing development in Amsterdam-Zuidost, with new housing becoming unaffordable for original residents, mirroring the festival's own evolution. The future of Kwaku remains under investigation, with organizers exploring what might replace the current format.

Everyone comes here for the togetherness.

— Henk LieveldExplaining the sense of community at the Kwaku festival.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by NRC Handelsblad in Dutch. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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