Problems with Handhaving seem to be resolved

What was the problem?

During the last couple of years, the circle-act street theatre performers of Amsterdam have been suffering from the acting of officers of 'Handhaving', the entity in charge of maintaining and improving the liveability in Amsterdam.

The use of voice amplification by the street theatre performers during their shows has been a long ongoing conflict. Voice amplification is actually allowed, but due to some complicated legal construction, this was often not clear for the officers of Handhaving, and leading to repeated lengthy discussions and performances being disrupted. Unofficial communications with Handhaving to sort things out didn't work. On the contrary, during the summer of 2022 things escalated tremendously, and officers of Handhaving threatened to confiscate equipment and systematically issue fines to 'violators'.

After informing the Mayor and the council, a series of official meetings with executives of Handhaving followed and promises for improvement were given, but this didn't lead to any actual results. Again, on the contrary. During the summer of 2023, in order to deal with severe nuisance by some street musicians, Handhaving started implementing a new policy. As 'bycatch' of this new approach, also the circle-act street theatre performers were limited drastically. Eventually, the approach of Handhaving in regard to the circle-acts appeared to be unlawful and was halted, but then the damage was already done: for a few weeks the street theatre performers were stopped from working and many performers left town. Again a meeting with executives of Handhaving followed, and again this didn't lead to any desired results. And again, on the contrary. Things didn't get better, now they got really bad and unlawful fines were actually issued. Within a few days also the last remaining street theatre performers stopped doing their shows.

The solution.

In January 2024, an official meeting with Handhaving followed again, this time with the Chief Executive of Handhaving Amsterdam and a representative of the Mayor. Handhaving offered us a solution in three parts:
Only the department of Handhaving specifically in charge of the centre area of Amsterdam will act upon events and problems on the squares (specifically Dam Square) where the circle-act street theatre performers are performing. This team is and will be better informed and instructed. This way misunderstandings can be avoided more easily.
If anybody complains about anything, Handhaving will ask more questions ("who, where, what exactly?"). This will avoid vague complaints and the street theatre performers being falsely accused or held responsible for nuisance caused by others.
Handhaving gave us two representatives as 'short line' contacts. They are well informed team leaders, close to 'the street', and are able to react relatively fast if any problem may occur.

So far, so good.

At the moment of this writing, the performing season is in full swing. The number of street theatre performers in town is still relatively low, but so far, no unpleasant encounters with Handhaving have occurred and it looks like all previous efforts are paying off. We are very pleased to be able to do our performances and entertain the public of Amsterdam again in an as much as possible stress-free manner.

The Samenwerkende Amsterdamse Straatartiesten would like to thank everyone involved to reach this situation, specifically the Chief Executive of Handhaving Amsterdam and the representative of the Mayor of Amsterdam for their time and efforts.