The Hague Festivals 2010 a big success

The fourth edition of The Hague Festivals concluded on Sunday during Parkpop and organisers could look back on a successful festival period. From 10 to 27 June the city went through numerous transformations: from a venue for a gay pride party during The Hague Pride to an outdoor stage for Festival Classique.

Despite poor weather in the first two weeks, high temperatures during the final weekend and the World Cup football championships, The Hague Festivals 2010 has attracted more than 900,000 visitors so far. The final visitors count is expected to be even higher this year. Several events, such as Wild Wonders of Europe and the Sand Sculpture on the Buitenhof, haven’t been included in these estimates because they last until September.

Number of visitors

Some 250,000 people celebrated Vlaggetjesdag in Scheveningen. The 18 days of the PopHotSpot Summer Festival at the Grote Markt attracted more than 35,000 visitors. The classical concerts of Festival Classique appealed to 39,000 music lovers. ShoppingNight pulled in 100,000 shopaholics to the city centre, just like last year. Some 250,000 pop music fans made their way to Zuiderpark to enjoy the 30th edition of Parkpop under the hot sun. The Ut Haags Notûh Festival, Jazz’in de Gracht and other events were also successful.

For the first time The Hague Jazz joined in under the banner of The Hague Festivals and attracted 24,000 festival goers. Other new events were The Hague Pride and The Hague African Festival. The gay pride party on the Lange Voorhout brought in 30,000 visitors. And in Zuiderpark 3,000 people found their way to The Hague African Festival.

The number of visitors is based on careful estimates by the municipality, police and event organisers.

Visit the website of The Hague Festivals for more information about this festival period.