The decision came as a result of rising costs due to inflation and disappointing subsidies, which meant that the budget could not be made up and it would be almost impossible to organise a festival every year.
“It was a huge disappointment, but because we skipped a year, we are able to put on a more elaborate event this year,” says Rob van Duijn, head of Studium Generale, who oversees the programme. A programme that includes Chilean band Calle Mambo as the closing act on Saturday. “They’re touring Europe and have to fly here as well. Normally, that wouldn’t immediately be an option, but now it’s a great name to have on the programme.”
Scoop
More evidence that the festival has been expanded is the children’s programme created together with Maastricht University’s KidzCollege, which has been given a place for the first time. There are activities for the youngest visitors on Saturday afternoon, including learning how new medicines are made and discovering how their brain works. Van Duijn is keen to see how enthusiastic people are. “We’ve already seen that people bring their kids, for example to see the street theatre. We think there is demand.”
In addition to the children’s programme, the festival also welcomes back two old favourites: the venues at the UCM and the Natural History Museum. “It’s the Art & Science festival: science alongside art, or related to it. This year, more so than in previous years, we have tried to find activities and venues that embody that philosophy. For example, Benjamin ‘Monki’ Kuitenbrouwer opens the festival with a lecture that is also a circus performance.”
Togetherness
Van Duijn hopes to surprise audiences with these interesting combinations. “Then I’ll definitely be satisfied,” he says, recalling a memory from a previous edition. “One of the visitors was a student who had only just moved to Maastricht and had yet to discover everything. After the festival, she told me that it felt like coming home. And that’s what it should feel like. It belongs to us, to the students and staff at the university, but also to the city. If that sense of togetherness is felt, then it’s a success.”