''Open Het Dorp'' ("Open The Village") was the first big fundraising TV show in the Netherlands. It aired on Dutch TV on 26 and 27 November 1962. ''Het Dorp'' is a special village or community for disabled people. To raise the required funds to build and open the community, a TV show was organized. The program was at that moment the first nationwide fundraising TV show, and it was done in the format of a

telethon A telethon (a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon") is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other purportedly worthy cause. Most telethons f ...

, lasting for 23 hours.

Mies Bouwman Maria Antoinette "Mies" Bouwman (31 December 1929 – 26 February 2018) was a Dutch television presenter. Career Born in Amsterdam, she started her career on the very first broadcasting evening of the Dutch broadcasting association KRO (Catholi ...

entirely presented it. Most local corner-shops cooperated: viewers could donate by putting cash in a small box (matchbox) and bring it to the local shop: most shops opened their doors on the evening of 26 November; the show was aired on TV and radio simultaneously as large numbers of people did not own a TV at that time. The director of the TV show was Theo Orderman. During the show, over 400 artists and other VIPs appeared in the show. After 23 hours of fundraising, a total amount of 21 million

guilders Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' "gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Empir ...

was collected, which was used to open ''Het Dorp'' near the city of

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of ...

. In the archives only short fragments are available regarding this event.Article and link to video o
Birth of TV website
, viewed 5 December 2008

References

{{reflist Telethons 1962 television specials Dutch television shows 1960s in Dutch television Dutch-language television shows 1962 Dutch television series debuts 1962 Dutch television series endings 1962 in the Netherlands Black-and-white Dutch television shows