Ruling out the village festival

As we reported in previous posts, festivals and events are under increasing pressure from rising costs, lack of volunteers, pressures on space and increased regulation.

A recent report by the Dutch news service NOS has outlined the problems for community events across the country. A major issue is the increased bureaucracy attached to even the smallest events. There are a growing number of rules related to event permits, safety and first aid, training and traffic management.

Village fun under threat?

In order to get an event licence, even the smallest event now has to provide their local municipality with information on the expected number of visitors, how they will deal with alcohol, traffic and amplified music. They also have to supply a plan of the event that indicates how they will deal with changing weather conditions. With climate change events are facing harsher weather conditions, including high winds and heavy rain.

Most events do not complain about these rules, but it does put increased pressure on the event organisers, volunteers and event budgets. Volunteers who have the task of directing traffic now need to follow an online course in order to qualify as traffic managers. The National Association for Small Villages (LVKK) has now set up a contact point for small communities facing increased regulatory pressure.

The extra pressure for volunteers is particularly problematic. Although the number of volunteers has recovered since Covid, the number of hours worked has fallen from 4.8 hours a week in 2022 to 4.4 hours in 2024. If we also take into account the increased workload that many event volunteers are facing, this indicates a considerably greater work pressure than in the past.

This trend is also visible outside the Netherlands. In 2025 an article in The Statesman bemoaned the decline of the French village fête. In the UK, the magazine Country Life complained about the regulations that are now making life harder for village fetes. As one organiser complained: 'We have made homemade signs for the past 90 years, but this year, they have been taken down. We’ve never had problems before, and they have removed the signs completely.’ The Highways Agency issued a statement, saying: ‘We have removed the signs because it is a distraction to drivers, and we have the power under the Highways Act to remove unauthorised signs.'

‘The signs have to be authorised. They can't just be put up at random, they have to comply with regulations.’

If this trend continues, it may be difficult to sustain many community events and festivals, which are often seen as vital for community cohesion.