44 Schriftelijke inspreekbijdrage inwoner

Dear members of the Haarlem City Council,

With this letter, I would like to strongly object to the City Council's intention to reduce or even completely cancel the annual Christmas market in Haarlem.

We are a Haarlem social group called International Ladies Haarlem, since 2016. But many of us have lived in the Netherlands for over 10 years and call it home. I have lived in the Haarlem city center for 7 years and own a property on the Koningstraat, a main artery of the Kerst Markt route and many other festive celebrations throughout the year.

The Kerst Markt stalls are open to anyone, families set up stalls, friends collaborate together, and businesses old and new, big and small set up to represent themselves. There no one is price gouging. Costs and prices are so much lower than most christmas markets in NL and DE. People are really there to enjoy the holiday feeling together, make a bit of profit, and promote their business. This is a special market! It looks and feels like a community effort, not some commercial experience.

Our social group has hosted a stand for the last 2 years, and it has already made an impact on our lives, the club, and the community. Last year we piloted the idea: Non-alcoholic specialty drinks to give variety to the usual gluhwijn and chocomel as well as handmade artisanal gifts ornaments and cards made personally by us. It is still small in scale but the Kerst Markt helped us bridge into going into business together and has impacted our lives. After this past year, we are considering expanding to make it a year round mini-business with a major yearly anchor in the Kerst Markt.

During our Kerst Markt social media posts, The International Ladies Haarlem group social media account receives over 72% views from non-followers, which is an immense reach to possible new members. This equated to 1600 new viewers for a social group that has only 150 followers on Instagram. The Kerst Markt has a big impact on our club, the membership saw the biggest single increase all year.

The stall draws people of all ages and nationalities who not only shop with us, but stay to chat. Both Dutchies and Internationals remembered our stand from last year and were excited to see us back. We were already looking forward to and making plans for next year! We don’t want to disappoint our growing community and were shocked to hear about the committee’s intentions.

The Kerst Mart is also one of the only times businesses come outside and get to know one another. We share gifts across the street, strengthen our connection with our neighboring businesses, hear about what businesses will be leaving us (Liquid Gold), what businesses

are the new buzz of the street (Tafelwerk), and what businesses are expanding to our street (Broodje House).

The Kerst Markt is arguably the best event of the year as it is a major community connection point, sparks business growth, and is the city wide event between Haarlem Jazz in August and the many silent winter months before Kings Day in April. It is synonymous with the historic cultural identity of Haarlem. We need this as a community, we need this as independent businesses, we need this as families and friends. The Kerst Markt is exceptionally managed, coordinated, and executed every year. The team is top tier, responds to questions and needs promptly, and the event creates a holiday buzz throughout the city for the days counting up to the Kerst Markt with the gentle music through the streets. It is crafted to have both memorable things that keep people coming back and enough new and exciting stalls and street entertainers to make it unique and memorable year after year. It is a major community effort that should be upheld and supported.

As an alternative to your current proposal, I would like to encourage you to please lean in more to the Kerst Markt. 1. Expand to 4 days, adding Thursday. 2. Vary the route with suggested start points, so that the flow of people is less a single directional river. 3. Offer additional transport via tuk tuk or bike taxi along the Gedempte Oude Gracht for additional activities. This is a very special event in Haarlem that would be a travesty to lose or diminish in size.