On 8 October 2022, ILFU will organise the Night of Poetry in Utrecht for the 39th time already. It is almost sold out which means that two-thirds of the cost is borne by visitors.
"The night costs roughly 100,000 euros. If we sell out, the vast majority of the revenue already comes from tickets and about a third more from the subsidies Ilfu receives for all the work: about three tonnes from the Ministry of OC&W, and subsidies from the municipality and province of Utrecht, plus quite a few funds," explains director Michael Stoker of ILFU out, while he is furiously busy with final preparations.
Fire brigade
The main hall of Tivoli Vredenburg has 1,700 seats, but during the evening and night - from 20:00 to 03:00 - most visitors do not stay in their seats altogether. "For the Night of Poetry, the fire brigade allows us to sell a maximum of 2,000 tickets. It used to be 2,200 or even 2,300, but that's no longer possible."
The coming Night on Saturday 8 October brings 20 poets to the stage, plus five musical performances and illusionist Hans Klok. Hassnae Bouazza will read a selection from the anthology 'Clean in every eye is what it loves' by her her brother Hafid, who died last year. This year's poets: Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, Joke van Leeuwen, Mustafa Stitou, Rob van Essen, Charlotte Van den Broeck, Mattijs Deraedt, Maxime Garcia Diaz, Tijl Nuyts, Marjoleine de Vos, Nisrine Mbarki, Andy Fierens, Willem van Toorn, Kasper Peters, Astrid Lampe, Ivo de Wijs, Max Temmerman, Daniëlle Zawadi and Laura Broekhuysen.
Military secret
But this year too, the order of performances is missing. Stoker: "That's our big military secret. It has to remain a surprise. We want to prevent the hall from filling up beforehand for certain poets, and for everyone to have a chance to see and hear favourite poets."
You can argue about it, for example, for those who cannot stay until three o'clock because of public transport or some other reason and would still like to see their favourite poets. But this uncertainty about the performances is part of the Night.
Which attracts more and more young people. Stoker: "I estimate that about 200 schoolchildren will visit the night this year. That number is growing, mainly due to Dutch teachers enthusing their students. Moreover, hundreds more young people, including students, buy tickets at a big discount. Their share is also growing."
Poetry is on the rise. Pure interest in collections is growing, but readers are also discovering that in their busy schedules it is easier to make room for poems than for reading a thick novel. For instance, reading poems in the evening before going to sleep or, even better, reading poems to each other, can be to pleasant nightcap for people.
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