Mayor van der Laan of Amsterdam has called on every festival organization in Amsterdam to make free refills of water bottles possible at future outdoor events. The decision was made together with the VVD delegation in the city council.
Festival Security
In June, criticism surfaced after visitors at various festivals were rudely handled by security at the water taps when they tried to refill their water bottles. One of the visitors that had experienced such an encounter stated that she was given a simple choice : “Either you go, or the bottle goes”.
Since then more events have had to deal with harsh feedback on social media by disappointed festival goers. In July, Welcome To The Future set the right example by offering its public the possibility to buy a water satchel that could then be refilled freely during the entire course of the day.
‘Enormous Efforts’
Council member Daniel van der Ree (VVD) is pleased with the decision made. “We’re talking about festival goers on a closed-off terrain that who are usually exercising enormous efforts in the burning sun. This group of people should be optimally protected from the dangers of dehydration or fatigue and should thus have unlimited access to free drinking water”
The new bill demands festival organizers to make unlimited free water available at every event they plan to organize in order to get a license for it. The law will go in effect at the end of this year, so expect free water at all open air events in and around the region of Amsterdam during the next festival season.
Mind you, unlimited free water doesn’t mean that you should also drink three times as much when you feel thirsty during a festival, water poisoning is as dangerous as dehydration. Just saying.
Source: AT5
