Council Wants To Curb Alcohol Misuse On Koningsdag

On Koningsdag the council hopes to have better control over the misuse of alcohol. Official and unofficial city wardens will address youngsters about this on the street. Is is the first time that the Koningsdag Eindhoven foundation will be organising the festivities.

There will also be more control in hospitality venues with regards to underage drinking. The same security measures as previous years will also be in place. It is, however, due to these security measures that a part of the Koningsdag Eindhoven Foundation’s big plan for this year cannot be realised.

The dance party on Stadhuisplein was to be expanded considerably and four extra stages were to be erected in Stratumseind. The council did not approve the Koningsdag Eindhoven Foundation’s plan for this. There was not enough time to ensure that these plans do not obstruct the emergency routes of emergency services.

Hospitality venue owner, Arjan Bouter, says he understands the council’s decision. He, however, does not understand why it took so long to determine that the stages in and around Stratumseind and the expansion in Stadhuisplein would be a security issue.

Bouter handed his plans in at the beginning of the year and thinks that if  they were discussed in February, a solution could have been found instead of having to cancel the plans. The Koningsdag Eindhoven Foundation will, therefore, already do an evaluation with the council in May. In this way, the foundation’s chairman, Ruud Bakker, wants to avoid the possibility of plans for next year being turned down at the last minute. The council is in agreement.

This is the first year that hospitality venues and event managers in Eindhoven are directly responsible for the festivities in the city. The Koningsdag Eindhoven Foundation was established for this purpose. All requests and questions go through this foundation. In this way the council has to deal with only one association instead of 13 independent organisers.