Amsterdam ends plans to hold the Uitmarkt on Museumplein moving forward

The annual Uitmarkt festival will no longer be held on the Museumplein in Amsterdam starting with this year's edition. The municipality of Amsterdam announced that a new concept for the opening of the cultural season is being developed. The Uitmarkt Foundation will present this new concept at the end of April.

Research commissioned by the foundation has shown that "an Uitmarkt in one central location no longer meets the goal of offering a broad and diverse range of art and culture to as many people as possible under the to draw attention." The study involved interviews and surveys of stakeholders from the sector, governments and financiers.

The shape of the stalls and brochures also does not fit in the digital and sustainable era, according to the researchers. There are now numerous online resources to draw attention to the range of culture.

It has also emerged that the Uitmarkt does not reach enough new target groups and is largely aimed at audiences that are already familiar with the cultural offerings: white, highly educated, generally somewhat older and from Amsterdam. Moreover, the Uitmarkt has increasingly become an Amsterdam festival that has lost national appeal.

"To be of wider significance, a new formula must be drawn out from the canal ring and into the neighbourhoods. In other words, a new formula should be able to present culture much more inclusively."

Furthermore, all interviewees stated that they attach great importance to a national cultural weekend in which the cultural offerings are brought to the attention of a broad target group.