An end to bluegrass at Voorthuizen?

Voorthuizen, in the central Netherlands, was the home of the annual European World of Bluegrass (EWOB) Festivals from 1999 to 2017, and since then the enthusiasm of the local organising team, European Bluegrass Voorthuizen, has ensured that bluegrassers from all around Europe have continued to flock there in springtime. Many bands from Ireland have played there over the years.

Last month, however, the board of European Bluegrass Voorthuizen announced with great regret that a bluegrass event will no longer be possible, owing to increasingly tight administrative regulations and the loss not only of the traditional venue but of camping and parking areas.

The board will continue to exist and support and promote bluegrass music. A new location in Voorthuizen is under development, and may prove to be a suitable venue; but at present no predictions are possible. The announcement, on website and Facebook, concludes:

We would like to thank all artists, visitors and volunteers who have helped make the festival be the success that it was in the past two decades or so. Without all of you it would not have been possible.