Vindicat’s Festival-Style Anniversary Brings Millions into Local Economy
Despite early concerns, the 210th celebration brought business, not disruption, to Groningen’s industrial zone.
Blaring buses, packed taxis, and flowing cocktails marked the 210th anniversary celebration of Vindicat, Groningen’s oldest student association. From July 11 to 24, the club transformed a temporary festival site in the Euvelgunne industrial estate into a full-blown event village, drawing up to 9,000 visitors on alumni day alone and generating millions in local revenue.
A Multi-Million Euro Party
Vindicat’s anniversary budget reached an estimated €4 million, according to committee chair Mee Jansen. Much of that went directly into the regional economy. Drenthe Tours deployed up to 40 buses to shuttle students and alumni around, earning the company up to €200,000. Stage builder Silke Drent described the job as larger than Free Your Mind Festival, with twelve trailers of equipment used to build bars, towers, and a canal concert stage.
“We work on many student events, but this was on another level,” said Drent. Groningen AV company Bano, a long-time partner, provided sound, lighting, and screens. “They could have gone with a bigger company from the west, but they stuck with us,” said director Erwin Balkema.
Local service providers also benefited: cleaning crews, cocktail caterers, hotels, and taxi companies all reported a surge in demand. On peak days, over ten cleaners worked the site. Cocktail vendor Peter Torenbosch compared the consumption and scale to a midsize summer festival, calling it “a little Noorderzon, but in off-season.”
Hotels in Groningen city centre saw rare summer-time occupancy spikes. “We were fully booked, and if we had 200 more rooms, they’d be gone too,” said Niek Strous of The Market Hotel, situated right next to Vindicat’s main building.
Concerns from Locals, But Smooth Execution
While the industrial estate location sparked early objections from business owners, particularly Bastiaan Busz of Total Ship Supply, the event turned out to be well managed. “We were not really bothered or disturbed by it,” Busz said afterwards. “I saw lots of security guards, and it was clearly a huge party.”
Vindicat organisers took concerns seriously. Jansen noted that in the early days, they deployed staff to redirect traffic and prevent visitors from interfering with local businesses. Busz praised the responsiveness: “Our concerns were heard.”
Despite the good execution, Busz’s formal objection to the permitting process remains. The municipality only finalised permits two weeks before the event, giving neighbouring businesses little time to review or challenge them. The city promised to consider objections retroactively.
A Community-Oriented Approach
Vindicat intentionally spent locally and chose an off-centre location to reduce pressure on the inner city. The student association’s members contributed to the budget through savings packages, in exchange for access to all anniversary events. Additional funding came from external subsidies supporting charity weeks and cultural activities like the canal concert.
The anniversary ended with a mass viewing of the event aftermovie and a group performance of the anniversary song, capping off what chairman Wibe Kaak called a “wonderful celebration.”
“We’re very proud,” said Jansen. “Not just of the events, but of how we organised this together, and how the city responded.”