Im looking for some fellow dutch spinners

 Written by: silversnake


Better late than never: Happy Birthday, pOq (or Eric).

shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhht.... (nobody noticed)
and don't tell them my age, because after reading what nepth said, I might be kicked off the dutch thread for being too old....

and __p0q__ is just a graphical way to write POP, what my real nick is...

 Written by:


Vision

The idea of an open non-commercial festival started around last spring, following the eviction of a some big squats located in the centre of Utrecht (WKZ, Dump and Vismarkt, all of them still empty!). It'll start around 14ish I think.

Losing those buildings hurt the squat movement as well as the social life of the city. Squat places are in fact more than just cheap living solutions...a lot of activities like concerts, workshops, vegan cafe`s, internet points,swop-shops, expositions and more were possible thanks to the efford of people that created a "space" for it. Those happenings are free or very low budget, because they come from a different vision of society and human relations. A vision in which the energy, the work, the enthusiasm are not focused on a personal profit, but on creating constructive alternative realities to the "consumistic" world that surround us.

At the moment in Utrecht there are not many possibilities left for these activities to take place. The city centre is overrun by shops,restaurants, clubs. Initiatives that do not belong to the institutionalized-commercial path keep being pushed out of sight since they do not follow the capitalist principle of short term profit. It is a change that every day more is causing an impoverishment in our social and cultural background. We are losing the concept of variety and of an open confrontation between differences and subcultures. Everything is more and more massified, labelled and expensive.

The same is happening in the musical scene. Most concerts in the Netherlands an also Utrecht`s venues are arranged by the Mojo group, with a quite limited selection of bands (since many musicians that cannot guarantee a highbudget at the door, they don`t get booked). The festival wants to be a way to reclaim a "free" day and a "free" space in the heart of our city. Next to the windows and the neon signs,we try to send out other messages and create a place for sounds and information that are generally unknown to the big public.

It is a chance for people that are already involved with those issues to gather, and for others to experience something quite different from the usual city festivals. There will be bands and DJ`s that can offer you an impression of the alternative underground music scene. There will be several info stands with material concerning cultural and political issues (like anti-fascism, police violence, defence of nature, animal rights), a no-copyright record distro, a book distro, a free-shop stand and Food not Bombs. There will be workshops about graffity painting, screen printing, capoeira and of course there is space for more, according to personal initiative and in respect of the spirit of the festival. All the work for this event is volunteer based, and there will be no entrance charged. It is free and accessible to everyone that wants to come to enjoy and to support the message that we try to express with it. Which is in a direct, simple and non pretentious way to reclaim your existance and freedom of expression.

 Written by: silversnake


Okay, monkeybusiness... now I can keep your little secret. In my year of birth Jimi Hendrix died, so I gues I'm one of the oldies as well ;-P

okay, as long as you don't "rat" me out, I'll keep your secret as well