Gales Wipe Zwarte Cross

The gales that swept the north and east of Holland have wiped the three-day Zwarte Cross music and motorsport festival that was to start July 16.

A number of people setting up the event were hospitalized – four with serious injuries – as the wind blew down anything that was standing on the Lichtenvoorde site.

Even if the weather settled, the damage to stages and marquees is so bad that it won’t be possible to fix the site before the festival opens.

Winds of up to 100 miles per hour sent a massive 8,000-capacity marquee into the air, according to the local De Telegraaf. Another structure knocked down by the wind caught fire.

De Telegraaf also reported that in the east of the country and in the north around Groningen dozens of trees were blown down, and very heavy rain caused localised flooding.

A church spire in the Gelderland village of Vragender blew down onto a nearby cafe but no one was injured. Part of Hengelo railway station’s roof collapsed, causing serious disruption to train traffic.

Zwarte Cross, or “’Black MotoCross,” is a mixture of sports, music and camping. It’s the biggest music festival in eastern Holland and the country’s largest motorcycle cross event. Last year it attracted 130,000 visitors across three days.

The event usually programmes about 100 lesser-known acts from Holland and abroad playing across 20 stages.