Bar & Boos

Bar and venue in Leiden, The Netherlands. Originally housed in a former printing office in the center of Leiden, which was squatted in the 1960's and named 'Vrijplaats Koppenhinksteeg'. Bar & Boos was named and created in 1993 as the cultural centre of the Vrijplaats, serving concerts, dances, theater, debates, movies and a weekly vegan dinner. Plans were made with city officials in an effort to legalize and regulate the Vrijplaats, but those were never fully realized. Public and political unrest and intolerance grew stronger, city officials found a prospective buyer for the location with plans to create luxurious apartments and eventually the occupants were evicted from the premises on Koppenhinksteeg on February 26th, 2010. Eventually a new location was acquired in cooperation with city officials, a former tin can packaging plant on Middelstegracht, which opened its doors on November 3rd, 2012.