In five different halls in Venlo, a new coronaproof event takes place just before Christmas The Dark Days. The festival is an inspiring walk along these locations, in groups of thirty. Eefje de Visser, Dopebwoy, Altin Gün, Clean Pete's Kerst Lab, ISH Dance Collective, Jiri11 and others will perform on the first three days. The festival ends with a reflection evening on Christmas Eve: Christmas Night Venlo. Ticket sales start Friday morning at 11:00
The event takes place from 21 to 24 December and is organised by Poppodium Grenswerk and De Maaspoort. The Limburgs Museum and Domani have been added as locations.
Every day, there is a choice of five different starting times. The first group starts at 19:00. There are 150 tickets available per day.
The first day is aimed at younger audiences, with headliner Dopebwoy and rapper Jiri11 from ANBU, who recently released a new solo album. ISH Dance Collective will bring a breakdance act. Also on the programme that day is poetry slammer Brohlin.
Eefje de Visser is the closing act of the second day. Last week, her latest album was proclaimed Album of the Year by music magazine OOR. Never before has that award gone to a Dutch artist. Last weekend she also won the 3voor12 Award for the best album of 2020. Next to Eefje, pianist Matteo Myderwyk is on the programme, he released an album with comforting compositions composed in corona time last month.
On the third day, there is room for Altin Gün, currently one of the most exciting bands in the Netherlands. Clean Pete - the biggest Christmas lovers in the Netherlands - will also be there with their special Christmas show. Cabaret artist André Manuel will fill in the details of this strange corona year. On all three days, there will also be room for short films, programmed by the Limburg Film Festival.
The festival concludes on Christmas Eve with Kerstnacht Venlo, which is part of De Donkere Dagen this year and also makes use of the various locations and the route. This secular Christmas celebration is being held for the tenth time this year. It is a freely accessible gathering on Christmas Eve, without a priest and without a sermon, but full of reflection and inspiration. As always, the programming remains a surprise. The reflection also returns on the other three days: Christmas Night Venlo selected an inspired speaker for each day. They are poetry slammer and musician Brohlin (Monday), Ko van Dun holds a topical speech about not knowing on Tuesday and Mark Post is a world-leading researcher in the creation of cultured meat. He will speak on Wednesday. All three will provide inspiring contributions that touch on current affairs.
De Donkere Dagen is a festival organised by Poppodium Grenswerk and De Maaspoort in conjunction with Kerstnacht Venlo, Domani, Limburgs Museum, Limburg Film Festival, City Cinema and Filmtheater De Nieuwe Scene
DE DONKERE DAGEN - Programme
Monday 21 December
Dopebwoy
Jiri11
ISH Dance Collective
Brohlin (Christmas Eve Venlo)
Film: The Hangman / Fucking Cola (Limburg Film Festival)
Tuesday 22nd of December
Eefje de Visser
Matteo Myderwyk
Marcel van Roosmalen
Ko van Dun (Christmas Eve Venlo)
Film: Grip / Flight of Life (Limburg Film Festival)
Wednesday 23 December
Altin Gün
Clean Pete's Christmas Lab
André Manuel
Mark Post (Kersnacht Venlo)
Film: Convoi Exceptionnel (Limburg Film Festival)
Thursday 24 December
Christmas Eve Venlo