Amsterdam in desperate search for new festival, concert venues

Amsterdam is desperately searching for vacant business- and industrial areas on the outskirts of the city to use as venues for festivals and events, Metro Nieuws reports. According to the newspaper, the city council is considering renting out these new venues to event organizers and to use the money to improve the facilities. In this way the experience can be improved for both festival attendees and surrounding residents.. "The municipality Amsterdam can invest this income in the event venues, for example for the management and maintenance and the establishment of common locations with permanent facilities for the events", Mayor Eberhard van der Laan wrote in response to questions from the D66. Facilities can also be built more efficiently to reduce the burden festivals have on the environment. According to Van der Laan, a number of festival organizers already responded positively to this proposal. "They see opportunities to, by jointly investing in festival venues, build lasting relationships and to create for themselves long-term security."