IO Festival in the Aula this year

IDE Dean Caspar Chorus took the decision on Friday 26 May that the annual IO Festival, which attracts 1,500 visitors, would not be held at his Faculty this year. The places where the roof windows are attached are showing some fine hairline cracks. The Facility Service says that this is usually no problem at all, but if the bass tones go on for hours, this could be a risk. ‘Safety first’ writes Chorus in a statement. ‘The IDE building is the festival’s home so I really understand what a huge disappointment this is for our students. I did not take this decision lightly.’

Students at the ID study association heard the news while they were working on preparing the decor, says ID Chair Sietje Piebenga. “It was a hard pill to swallow, especially for the Festival Committee.” We went outside to sit on the grass for half an hour, but quickly received some solutions from people from the Faculty and from the Safety and Security Department. This changed things. Our group is very resilient.”

‘Tickets were sold out within a second’

The solution is that the festival will be moved to the Aula and will take place on the same day and at the same time: 2 June from 21:00 onwards. The festival committee was already hard at work last weekend on adjusting floor plans, lighting and sound, and redirecting deliveries. The organisers hope that they will have three stages in the Aula. This will come to light this week.

Setting up everything has to be done much more quickly than usual. “We usually have five days to work, but now we only have from Thursday evening,” says Piebenga. She is confident that it will be done. “We have a lot of extra help, among which the former festival committees. The Facility Service and the Faculty are also at the ready.”

The hugely popular IO Festival will be held for the 41st time this year. Apart from during the Covid pandemic, the Faculty was always the home of the Festival. This time the tickets were sold out “within a second” says Piebenga. The study association has already informed the ticket holders about the alternative location. “We communicated this as positively as we could. We see it as a challenge.