Skating story
Waiting takes work
IJskoorts ·
Anyone waiting for an Elfstedentocht is waiting for an event that already exists on paper every year. The board and staff organise it annually; the weather decides whether it can actually be skated. Waiting has work behind it.
Source: The Tour: annual preparation (Dutch)
Take January 1997. On Thursday 2 January, chairman Henk Kroes spoke the famous words ‘It giet oan’. The start followed on Saturday 4 January. In between, the board, district coordinators and thousands of volunteers continued preparing the route. In the end, 16,731 participants set off.
Source: The 1997 Tour: announcement, date and participants (Dutch)
That gives waiting a practical purpose: keep organising for a day with no fixed date. Next time someone asks whether the Elfstedentocht still exists, you can say: on paper, it begins again every year.
Sources: Royal Association of the Frisian Eleven Cities. Checked on 3 October 2026.