From garden party to Spoorzone: four Tilburg alumni organize festival Daycare

What started as a garden party during the pandemic has grown into a festival attracting three thousand visitors in the Spoorzone. The faces behind Daycare—four alumni of Tilburg University—share their story with Univers.

The idea originated in the garden of the student house of Guy Huijnen (28) and Wouter Mennen (29). The two business administration students met through student association ABC and later ended up living in the same house. They noticed that, due to COVID, they kept running into the same people. That had to change.

So what did they do? Everyone brought along an extra guest. In this way, Guy and Wouter gradually expanded their circle beyond the “COVID bubble,” allowing everyone to meet new people. Because the first edition was such a success, they repeated it. At the next edition, guests were asked to bring two friends. The party kept growing along with the guest list. “The first time there were about 22 of us, then fifty, and later around a hundred.”

More organization required

After the pandemic, the initiative temporarily came to a halt. The garden had also become too small. Time for the next step—but that meant more organization. So they asked two friends to join the team: Jan van Weert (30), who studied Organization Studies, and Menno Stabel (27), who completed a Master’s in Marketing Management at Tilburg University.

The group found an old scouting site that could accommodate three hundred people for a party. “That was great—it left us wanting more,” they say enthusiastically. Still, not everything went smoothly. “People had posted photos and videos on Instagram, and that quickly caught the attention of someone from the municipality. We didn’t have a permit, so it wasn’t allowed.”

Wouter adds: “We were called in for a meeting. But it was actually a very constructive conversation. The municipality wanted to think along with us about possible locations, although that turned out to be quite challenging.” Tilburg has relatively few sites suitable for hosting festivals.

A huge opportunity

After many meetings and informal chats, they eventually ended up in the Spoorzone. “A huge opportunity—but we only had two and a half months, and we basically knew nothing,” Guy explains. “How do you make scaled drawings? What software do you need? How do permits work? Our studies have nothing to do with the events industry, so we really had to figure things out.”

For the four alumni, it has been a demanding process. Besides organizing events, all of them also have jobs. In the meantime, Menno and Jan have reduced their working hours by one day a week to focus on Daycare. It is no longer just a festival; there is also a separate night program, and this weekend they are hosting an event in the Koepelhal.

Four men and countless decisions—does that ever lead to conflict? “Not really. Most of the time we’re on the same page. And if not, we vote. We work with a clear structure—that’s something we learned both at work and at university. It really helps,” says Guy.

Moreover, the alumni do not organize the festival alone. “So many people help out,” Wouter says. “Jan’s father acted as a driver and absolutely loved it. The DJs did too.” Guy laughs and nods. “At one point during the setup, we needed extra chairs for dinner. We were building the festival with about thirty people, including many friends and family members. That was really special.”

_Advertentie.