Gemeente Maastricht: Events-related policy

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Events-related policy

The municipality works to support events in two ways: by providing the necessary permits and by supporting events which make the greatest contribution to the reputation of the city and to realising municipal policy goals.

Granting of permits

Permits for events must be requested from: Vergunningverlening, Toezicht en Handhaving (VTH: Department of Permits, Supervision and Enforcement). All events in the current year are listed on the events calendar (in Dutch only), including information on which event takes place when and where in the city.

Contact person:

Events case manager
Rik Voogt
E-mail: rik.voogt@maastricht.nl
Tel: +31 (0) 43 350 51 68

Events related policy

Events are important for the city. They add life and colour to the city, are a source of income and employment for the retail, hotel, restaurant, café and catering sector, and also contribute to the image of Maastricht as a city with great opportunities for living, working and enjoying oneself. An event can also be a tool for realising municipal policy. For example, in terms of youth related policy, this is the case with the musical event known as Bruis.

But events can also have a negative side. They are sometimes a nuisance (e.g. noise, accessibility etc.) for residents and others. An event which does not fit in with the specific location (e.g. the Vrijthof) can also harm the image of the city, and this would actually diminish the long-term prospects for income and employment.

The goal of events-related policy is therefore to create a good balance between the positive effects of events (such as entertainment, revenue, image) and the quality of life in the city, i.e. being able to live in a relaxed and enjoyable fashion.

To accomplish this, events-related policy focuses on three aspects:

greater awareness as to which events are important for the city when choosing events
ensuring that the events are well matched to the location chosen, for example in terms of the facilities/equipment available at the location and in terms of spreading events over the city
ensuring that any unnecessary nuisance also does not occur, by listening closely to the residents and involving them accordingly. This helps prevent unnecessary nuisance (but of course not completely).

The City Council has decided that per square no more than 50 days per year may be reserved for events (not including the time needed for building and dismantling facilities) in order to reduce the pressure brought to bear on the city and also to ensure that the various squares in the city can also function as relaxed open spaces.

The new events-related policy focuses primarily on those events which contribute positively to strengthening the image of the city, which contribute to the policy goals in terms of sports, economy, culture and well-being, and which take place in the city centre. The municipality aims to invest extra effort in this area.

However, a great many more (often smaller-scale) activities/events are also taking place in various neighbourhoods, including street festivals and brass band jubilee celebrations. The municipality intends to support these types of events even more effectively, for example by processing permit applications (see link above) as quickly as possible.