Le Guess Who? has issued a lengthy complaint about the increasing problem it’s facing securing visas for the various international artists performing at the Utrecht festival.
In a post shared across its social media channels, the festival, which gets underway this weekend, said organisers had been under “immense stress” working with the Netherlands’ current visa regulations. Some artists have been forced to travel for days to nearby countries to reach a visa office only to be turned away for not having unspecified paperwork, the festival said, adding that artists whose names don’t match Western standards are seeing their online applications for a visa denied.
The festival also noted that those who struggle most to reach the country to play at the festival are people from non-Western countries. The statement said it was “impossible not to observe the places these artists are coming from [who] are being denied entry into The Netherlands. Egypt, Lebanon, Pakistan, Palestine, Morocco.”
Among the artists who has been forced to cancel his participation in this year’s Le Guess Who? is Aftab Sr., the Grammy-winning Pakistani artist and father of Arooj Aftab who had been due to perform with his daughter. His performance visa was rejected despite official letters of invitation from the festival and the city of Utrecht.
Concluding its statement, Le Guess Who? said: “Having seen firsthand how these systems operate, we see no indication of the intention to change them – which doesn’t bode well for the future. In short: inclusivity in Dutch culture is an illusion, if The Netherlands doesn’t open the door.”
Read the full statement here.
Le Guess Who? will take place from November 7 to 10, 2024. Find more information here.
