Lars Verhoeff using a barrow bike to DJ as publicity on campus for the 0317 Festival. Photo Resource Wageningen nightlife needs a proper centre that combines culture, art and crazy parties, according to a group of the town’s young people. They have united to form the Wageningen Culture Collective, which aims to set up a cultural centre run by and for young people. Biology student Lars Verhoeff (23) is one of the people behind the initiative. ‘I love the magic of dancing, parties and coming together.’
A lot goes on in Wageningen, according to Verhoeff. ‘Raves, parties at student societies and in student houses, themed events and festivals. Then there are the music collectives like MiniCulture. In other words, the place is a hive of activity.’ Yet something important is missing, he says. ‘We don’t have a centre where people in the various scenes can easily meet. Somewhere you can perform as a DJ or with your new band, or where anyone — student or otherwise — can organize a party or workshop. There is a nightlife culture but what’s missing is a beating heart where it all comes together. Changing that is the aim of Wageningen Culture Collective — a group of young people who want to encourage the nightlife scene.’
How do you plan to do this?
‘In December, we handed the municipal council a manifesto calling on them to help us create such a centre (signed so far by 1,193 people, ed.). They were unanimously in favour of our plan. Now we have weekly meetings with the municipality to discuss possible next steps with them. We are also in discussions with cultural initiatives such as Popupop about their requirements for such a cultural centre, and we’re looking at cafes and venues as possible locations.’
You have more influence if you’re the nightlife mayor
Do you already have locations in mind?
‘A new building would be fantastic but that costs a lot of time, money and hassle. For now, we’re considering existing locations, which often already have things like permits and parking, at least to some extent. We are looking at various sites in Wageningen and we’re talking to organizations such as Superette, Unitas and the International Club.’
What does your ideal location look like? A music venue like Doornroosje in Nijmegen?
‘Definitely not. Doornroosje is for major artists. We want something for the people of Wageningen who don’t want to become famous but are more interested in being creative. So small-scale gigs, parties and workshops.’
And the ideal audience?
‘Both students and non-students. They are separate worlds at the moment. Non-students often aren’t welcome at student parties whereas it would in fact be great to bring people from the various scenes together. I sometimes go to the skate park in Wageningen Noordwest and you don’t have that segregation there; it doesn’t matter what you look like or whether you’re a student. People have a drink and chat together and skate together. You see the same fraternization at the illegal raves. Everyone’s there for the same thing: to have an unforgettable party. We want to create a culture where everyone’s welcome.’
You want to become the ‘nightlife mayor’ to get things moving. Will that help?
‘I believe so. If a group of young people speak up, they’re just a group of young people. But you have much more influence if you’re the nightlife mayor. I see the nightlife mayor as someone who organizes a protest in an energetic party atmosphere with music and dance, something everyone wants to join in with. I think our message would be stronger and we would reach more people if one of us had that role. And given how much an advocate I am of nightlife — I love the magic of dancing, parties and coming together — I thought maybe that person should be me.’
How do you get that role?
‘That’s a good question! We looked into this and discovered Wageningen already has a nightlife mayor: Tim Horsting. I don’t know him personally but I have a lot of respect for what he does. He’s a magician who is famous in the Netherlands and beyond. But I’m not sure how much effort he is putting into Wageningen’s nightlife at the moment. Perhaps we can convince him to hand over the title to me as his successor.’
Nightlife mayor Tim Horsting
Resource asked the current nightlife mayor Tim Horsting for a comment. ‘I can relate to what Verhoeff is saying. I spent years working to improve Wageningen’s nightlife and night culture, for example by organizing festivals and variety events and by lobbying the municipality for a nightlife society centre. But I often ended up mired in bureaucracy, which was really frustrating. Then I had the idea of becoming the nightlife mayor. That was ten years ago. I talked to the nightlife mayors in other towns and cities, including Jules Deelder in Rotterdam. I couldn’t keep up with his drinking and he talked a lot of rubbish, but it was all very sociable.
‘I was made nightlife mayor of Wageningen in 2023 by the local cultural initiatives Schrijversharten and Lijntje Poëzie. But my career as a magician took off soon afterwards and my wife and I had our second child. In other words, I was incredibly busy. That meant I wasn’t able to devote so much attention to the nightlife mayor role, which wasn’t going smoothly anyway. That’s a shame. If Lars can breathe new life into this role with a fresh injection of energy, I’m all for it. As far as I’m concerned, Lars can take over the mayoral regalia and get lobbying. We should however organize something nice for the handover. At any rate, I’m open to the idea.’
To be continued.