Positive opinions for Theatre Festival Boulevard

This week, Fonds Podiumkunsten and the Province of North Brabant announced that Theatre Festival Boulevard will also receive subsidies for the next four years.

On Wednesday 3 July, the Performing Arts Fund released its advice on national cultural subsidies for the period 2025-2028. Theatre Festival Boulevard is incredibly proud of the Fund's positive advice. Thank you to the committee for appreciating and recognising our work. They wrote in their advice: "The committee notes that the core values of reciprocity and resonance, for which a connection between artist and spectator is indispensable, prevail in the coming period. The committee is positive about this emphasis on depth and commitment and sees this clearly reflected in the programming principles. According to the committee, Theatre Festival Boulevard stands out from other large-scale summer festivals. The committee also rates the local embeddedness as very good."

The Culture Council also released its positive opinion on PLAN Brabant, of which Theatre Festival Boulevard is a partner. "The council sees PLAN as an important pivot point between professional arts education in the Brabant region and practice. Through its role in the chain, the institution is a booster for talent development in the region and beyond."

Then the Province of North Brabant announced its opinion today. Theatre Festival Boulevard will receive funding there too for the next four years. We thank the committee for its positive advice and this very welcome award. However, it's not just celebration. Because of the new subsidy ceiling the festival faces, there is a worrying reduction in the subsidy amount compared to previous years. This will limit the role Boulevard now holds in the regional, national and international cultural field. In addition, important cooperation partners of Boulevard will unfortunately lose their national and/or regional subsidy.

"These are two fraught days for the cultural sector in the Netherlands. Where some jump a hole in the air, others process a big disappointment. Together we form a cultural sector where every story needs to be heard and every rejection has a big impact on collaborations, on the important work being made," said directors Dana Kibbelaar and Tessa Smeulers.