Haagse muziekdriedaagse - jong talent, grote meesters

Rabin Baldewsingh deputy mayor of the municipality of The Hague

Rabin Baldewsingh deputy mayor of the municipality of The Hague says, “The Hague Three-Day Music Festival is an extremely important event from the point of view of citizenship, which is part of my portfolio as deputy mayor of The Hague and which also includes responsibility for deconcentration, quality of life and media. “The programming is different, diverse and really attractive to people of all races and ages.” “Culture can and should bring people together. 48 % of The Hague’s population were not born in the Netherlands and have at least one parent from a different background and to whom we need to cater in our cultural events.

If, as a cultural organisation, you offer a standard programme that traditionally appeals to a white audience, your audience will continue to diminish. Audiences are of a different mix, they have different interests and different wishes, which we can’t ignore”

“You have to specifically cater for new target groups which is what the Three-Day Music Festival does. All the immigrants in The Hague are a breeding ground for new audiences. If they come because the programme is better geared to them, they will then be more likely to come to the more traditional events.”

“The type of programme offered by Three-Day Music Festival must be integrated more in the regular schedules. Of course you should keep Bach, but instead of programming Bach thirty times you can put Bach on the programme twenty times and schedule something for the new target groups for the other ten slots.

Cultural diversity was the spearhead of the policy of the national culture secretary Rick van der Ploeg twelve years ago and this hasn’t been followed through enough. The Three-Day Music Festival is a catalyst and I hope that it can be marketed throughout the city. But what the festival offers shouldn’t be a special event but a standard part of the regular cultural programme.