Almere city board resigns from ‘financial drama’ Floriade expo The entire Almere executive board has resigned due to the failure of the 2022 Floriade exhibition to attract enough visitors to cover its costs. In an emotional speech on Thursday, finance leader Julius Lindenbergh said the city would have to inject another € 33.8 million into the festival, at a cost of € 41.5 million already said. He said he felt ‘powerless’ over the extra costs which, according to Omroep Flevoland, were almost twice the € 17 million reserve allocated by the city for fear of insufficient pandemic ticket sales. In a news release, the city said that while just over 232,000 people have visited the horticultural attraction since it opened on April 13, this was ‘far less’ than expected – in fact, a third of the projections. The total number of visitors expected to be revised down from two million to 1.2 million or even, at worst, 800,000. ‘As a city, you are dealing with huge forces, partly national and partly international, influences that you are completely exposed to when you organize an event like this – and they all seem to be working against us, said Lindenbergh. ‘I feel this is just awful for the people of the city… considering all the cuts we have had to make because of these costs today. ‘What is this message to send to people who are currently experiencing inflationary difficulties, who are unable to pay their energy bills. This will take me to the heart. ‘

The city administration informed the elected council earlier this week that the Floriade Almere 2022 BV company was at risk of rusting. Research carried out by the organization Motivaction on the expo, which has a sustainable cities theme for the future, revealed that while almost half of visitors liked it, others were discouraged by the entry price of € 29 per ticket and many were going out less due. for the coronavirus pandemic and higher costs at home.