On the occasion of the 135th anniversary of the Royal Frisian Horse Studbook (KFPS), the music and theater show Faderpaard was organized in January 2014. The performance brought together Frisian horses, theater and music. The name of the performance was taken from the poem It Faderpaard by Tsjêbbe Hettinga, in which he commemorates who was a farmer and horse trader. The performance was attended by more than 10,000 spectators.
The production of the show was in the hands of the Faderpaard Foundation. The foundation aims to increase historical awareness and the special cultural value of the Friesian horse.
The second major production of the Faderpaard Foundation was De Stormruiter, the music and theater spectacle that attracted no fewer than 103,000 visitors in 2018 (the year in which Leeuwarden-Friesland was European Capital of Culture). The audience gave the performance an 8.6. Two-thirds of visitors thought the performance exceeded all expectations, according to research by the Blockbuster Fund, which supports major cultural initiatives such as De Stormruiter.
Half of the 103,000 visitors did not come from Friesland. One percent came from abroad and 46 percent from the rest of the Netherlands. Ten percent of the Frisian visitors came from Leeuwarden. “The economic impact calculated over all visitors is well over 9 million,” wrote the Leeuwarder Courant after the performance.
The KFPS has asked the Faderpaard Foundation to produce the Anniversary Show in January 2024. Faderpaard started working on this using part of the De Stormruiter production team.
