Limburg theaters cancel all performances until April 6, museums close, concerts are moved, exhibitions are canceled. The cultural field in Limburg is flat by Corona.

The Bonnefantenmuseum and the Museum aan het Vrijthof immediately close the doors until April 6: “With a heavy heart, but we have no other choice,” says Erik de Jong after consultation with colleague Stijn Huijts of the Bonnefantenmuseum and the municipality. Maastricht.

Theaters

The theaters in Limburg are also clear in their decision: all performances until April 6 will be canceled. Although it is by no means an easy choice, says Rocco Malherbe of Parkstad Limburg Theaters in Kerkrade and Heerlen. “You have to imagine that we are currently at the top of our season with 8000 to 10,000 visitors a week in the theaters in Kerkrade and Heerlen, the impact on the entire theater industry is enormous.” His colleague Gaby van Wegberg of Theater aan het Vrijthof Maastricht is also forced to close the theater. “That is 40 performances until March 31. We will of course try to move all performances as much as possible – preferably – but that will not always work. We hope that the public understands that. ”

Groups

The news hit Limburg theater companies like a bomb. General manager Simone Mager of Het Laagland in Sittard: “I have worked in the cultural sector for 25 years, but have never experienced such a drastic action as this. Unfortunately we have to cancel twenty performances of Cannon Feed. Sin, but also understandable. Because we have never had to deal with such a situation, much is still unknown about what impact this has on our company. I don’t know what will happen to the sold tickets, as well as whether there will be replacement dates. The bill of cancellation cannot be placed unilaterally with the companies, I assume that we have good consultation with the stages about this. However, these measures should not last another month, because then we will really feel it financially. ”

Servé Hermans, artistic director of Toneelgroep Maastricht, says that all performances by The Great Gatsby and Jungfrau have been canceled. Hermans absolutely agrees with the government’s decision to cancel events with more than a hundred people. “The well-being of people is the most important thing.” He is, however, very concerned: “Not playing for an evening costs us several thousand euros. We can handle that for the next two weeks, but we’ve never been so busy in the next few months: 130 activities are planned, such as shows and debates. Should this measure continue, it will cost us tons and we will eventually go bankrupt. ”

For the South Netherlands Philharmonic, the measure means that all concerts until the end of March are canceled. According to spokesman Erwin Pellemans an attempt is made to catch up on as many performances as possible at a later date.

Music venues

Pop venues in Limburg also immediately close their doors to the public, Kees van den Berg says on behalf of the Nieuwe Nor pop venue in Heerlen. Grenswerk in Venlo also suspends all concerts until April 6.

Source : Limburger official web site
https://www.limburger.nl/cnt/dmf20200312_00151591/culturele-leven-limburg-op-slot-theaters-en-musea-dicht-concerten-geannuleerd