It is going to be a busy weekend for Eindhoven! A possible championship for PSV on Thursday night, King’s Night on Friday, King’s Day on Saturday, and Monday a possible inauguration.
Entrepreneurs in the hospitality industry think they can handle these crowds.
Koningsdag in Eindhoven continues to grow every year. The organisation does not want to mention numbers and it is also unknown how many security guards will be deployed. “It’s going to be busy. The number of visitors from outside Eindhoven also continues to grow, already about 20-25 per cent. Of course, we are taking this into account. We have divided the parties over different squares to spread out the visitor numbers,” says organiser Ruud Bakker.
Fences
“Every year we can handle the crowds but measures have to be taken to do so,” says hospitality entrepreneur Youri de Bok, “That’s why this year, we have an extra stage on Stratumseind and we have fences to place if certain squares get too full. Then we refer people to all the other squares where there is also something to do.”
Chances are it will be a double celebration this weekend when PSV also becomes champions. That probably means an even bigger crowd. Spreading it out would have been more convenient, although you can’t control that. De Bok: “Of course we are happy then. But still, I think – given a choice, the entrepreneurs here would rather see PSV become champions on May 5.”
Hospitality entrepreneur Bram Merkelbach sees similarities with another party, should the championship go ahead. “With so many days in a row, it looks just like the carnival, but a bit later in the year.” To be clear, he would rather the club become champions now rather than not at all.
Expensive
Not only is the number of visitors growing on King’s Day, but prices continue to rise. A beer will cost €3.80 this year. “This is normal. I don’t know if it will be an expensive party for the visitors, depending on how much they drink. They have complete control over it,” Bakker said.
Source- Studio040
Translation- Chaitali Sengupta.
