An estimated 75,000 people took part in demonstrations all over the country on Saturday to protest about cuts in spending on the arts and culture.
In Amsterdam, some 20,000 people gathered on the Leidseplein to listen to one-minute speeches, sing protest songs and scream against the plans to increase value-added tax to 19% on theatre and concert tickets.
The slogan for the protests was ‘The Netherlands screams for culture’.
There were demonstrations and impromptu performances at around 70 locations nationwide.
Local government
As well as increasing taxes from January, the government is cutting spending on the arts and culture by €200m.
According to research by RTL news, local authorities have also slashed their contributions to the arts by an average 9%, or €10 per person from next year.
The Hague is cutting spending by 16.5% and Amsterdam and Utrecht by almost 10%, the broadcaster says.
But some places, such as Nieuwegein, are increasing their arts budgets.
Dutch News
