Oudejaarsconference

The oudejaarsconference (English: New Year's Eve conference) is a cabaret performance that is performed annually in December. The conference discusses the past year, every year by different comedians. The oudejaarsconference is a Dutch tradition, but since 1993 Belgium has also had its own oudejaarsconference. The conference has been broadcast on television since 1969.

History
The play Gijsbrecht van Aemstel by Joost van den Vondel was invariably followed by the farce The Wedding of Kloris and Roosje from 1720 to the 1960s at the end of December. This comedy was performed after the Gijsbrecht van Aemstel tragedy to ensure that the audience did not return home in a sad mood. The wedding of Kloris and Roosje included a New Year's wish that was always preceded by a passage in which a humorous look back was made on the past year. This piece is often seen as the forerunner of the modern oudejaarsconferences.

1954 - 1982
The first modern oudejaarsconference took place in 1954. The Dutch comedian Wim Kan gave in 1954 a conference on the radio, in which he made jokes and looked back on the year 1954. The broadcast was an immediate success, after which Kan decided to make it a recurring event. Six more oudejaarsconferences by Wim Kan followed later. However, in 1969 Wim Kan was unable to perform due to fatigue, so Seth Gaaikema did the oudejaarsconference in 1969. Gaaikema did not perform the conference on the radio, but was the first comedian to perform the conference on television. In 1973, Wim Kan took over the oudejaarsconference again, which also moved from radio to television.

1982 - present
In 1982 there were two oudejaarsconferences on television. On the first television network, Wim Kan held a conference (broadcast by VARA) and on the second television network a oudejaarsconference was broadcast by IKON, performed by the new and refreshing comedian Freek de Jonge. Later, Freek de Jonge's conference turned out to be much more popular than Wim Kan's, which is why Wim Kan decided to stop with the oudejaarsconference. Wim Kan appointed Freek de Jonge as his successor. Freek de Jonge held an annual oudejaarsconference until 1984. Later, Seth Gaaikema conducted a oudejaarsconference from 1985 to 1986. Since 1987, the oudejaarsconference has been alternately performed on television by different comedians. In 1989, comedian Youp van 't Hek held a oudejaarsconference on television for the first time. In 1990 Seth Gaaikema stopped with the conference. In 1994, the cabaret duo Lebbis and Jansen held a oudejaarsconference on the radio and in 2000 on television. The comedians Freek de Jonge (his conferences were broadcast by VPRO) and Youp van 't Hek (his conferences were broadcast by VARA) alternately conducted a oudejaarsconference. In 2006, Guido Weijers held his first oudejaarsconference on the commercial channel SBS6. In 2010, the broadcaster VARA decided that the oudejaarsconference would be performed by a different comedian every year. In 2010, the oudejaarsconference was staged by Erik van Muiswinkel, who did it together with some other comedians. In 2013, Theo Maassen held a oudejaarsconference on behalf of VARA. In 2015, Herman Finkers held the oudejaarsconference for the first time and in 2016 Claudia de Breij held the conference, making her the first woman to ever hold a oudejaarsconference. Since 2014, the conferences have been broadcast by Guido Weijers on RTL 4. In 2020, Youp van 't Hek held his last oudejaarsconference. In 2024, comedian Pieter Derks will do the oudejaarsconference for broadcaster BNNVARA. The oudejaarsconference is not just a conference especially for television. For example, Dolf Jansen has been publishing his oudejaarsconferences on YouTube since 2014. Other Dutch comedians are also doing a oudejaarsconference. Comedian Sjaak Bral has made conferences every year since 1996, especially for the regional channel Omroep West.

Oudejaarsconference in Belgium
Since 1993, oudejaarsconferences have also been broadcast on Belgian television. Belgian comedian Geert Hoste held a oudejaarsconference for the Flemish channel VRT 1 from 1993 to 2008. From 2008 to 2018, Michael Van Peel held the conference for VRT 1. Since 2019, Kamal Kharmach has held the oudejaarsconference on VRT 1.