Dear old(er) Africa Night goers,
Last Saturday at Africa Night Tilburg had all the positive vibes; the ambiance, the people, the music and more. We know Africa Night is undergoing her periodic regeneration at the moment. That explains why more than 70% of the people who were there last Saturday are people who have only been coming to Africa Night Tilburg since we moved to the new location (T Kwadraat) just over a year ago. We are very happy with our new guests. They are part of the latest chapter in this enduring musical journey. We know for sure some of you who are staying away from this new location have their reasons. Some of those reasons are well documented. We respect that and we respect you.
What you are missing though is the new generation of great Africa Night revellers. These new set of people are bright and happy. They are doing all the things you used to do. Only they do it with more passion. They smile, they network (read flirt), they dance and they keep dancing! In other words, they like to be there just like we like to entertain them. To be honest though, most of them have adopted one your bad habits. They come late too!
The new sets of guests are like you. They are young and young at heart. They come from all over and from wherever. They have different colours and professions like you. They are housewives, husbands, refugees, doctors, nurses, unemployed, students. They are the rainbow. They are from all over the world. Why? It is because of the same reasons you used to come. Africa Night provides them with an arena where they can feel free to dance away any worries. They come because they know we, the crew, make them feel at home. They come knowing that the people create the ambiance and not the other way around. And we have to be honest about this, they can out dance you!
We are grateful for/to our new guests. We know for sure that they are the rock to rebuild the new Africa Night house. We also know once that house is standing, some of you will want to come back and be part of the fun. The thing is, it is your house and you are also welcome to take your place on the dance floor. You will not recognise the house you left, but the new people are just as kind and loving as you are. See? Africa Night is a lucky event!
Which brings us to the 30% who have stood by us? Dear old(er) Africa Night goers, while you abandoned ship, these people stayed and continued dancing. They are the faces and the people that gave us hope. They winked at us and told us everything is gonna be alright. These are the people you will still recognise whenever you come back. They are the once who have been of great help making the transition and regeneration as smooth as possible. Africa Night is extremely grateful to them.
Take a look at the video in this letter to you. Can you feel the spirit, the energy, the power and the positivity? Yes as much as everything has changed, everything is still the same! Something happened last Saturday dear old(er) Africa Night goers. The back-up DJ played for close to 45 minutes during this edition and not a single person came to request a song or came to complain about anything! In 16 years that some of you our old(er) visitors have been coming, this has never happened. It was the perfect night for music. It was the perfect night for dance. We had perfect dancers and no complainers in the house!
Dear old(er) Africa Night goers, some ladies came last Saturday who were convinced they came from very far. They came all the way from Maarn in the Utrecht region. While we were talking with them, 2 ladies passed us by on their way to the dance floor. The ladies came from Assen in the Drenthe region! So you see, it is the same conversations we’ve had before. We are however eternally grateful that people from all over choose to come to our show still.
Dear old(er) Africa Night goers, if you had come and stayed till the end of the August 2014 edition of Africa Night Tilburg, you would have been moved by the spontaneous applause the 100% that came gave to themselves and probably to Africa Night once the last song was played. Dear old(er) Africa Night goers we miss your presence. However, our new guests are doing their best to make us concentrate on them. They are the sweetest generation. Sorry to say that.
Dear old(er) Africa Night goers, maybe we shall reunite soon or maybe later. Whatever happens, the new people are keeping the flag flying and the dance floor hot. If you stay away for too long, they will make us forget you!
Yours truly,
