Current VARA logo, in use since 2002.
The VARA is a Dutch public broadcasting organization that was founded in 1925. VARA is an acronym for Vereeniging van Arbeiders Radio Amateurs (Association of Worker Radio Amateurs), nevertheless it is officially considered a standard name by the VARA itself instead of an abbreviation since the 1950s.
On June 11, 1972, the VARA broadcast a partially-dubbed American episode of Sesame Street into Dutch as a test to see if the show could be adapted for the Netherlands. The program was presented by Ruud Jans who interviewed and sat with a live audience of Dutch children watching the episode. Jans also showed scenes from the series' Mexican co-production.
In 1974, the VARA produced Sesamplein (Sesame Square), a local test pilot, using a real square as the setting. Because broadcasting systems NOS (Dutch) and BRT (Belgian) decided to join forces and make Sesamstraat, VARA cancelled further development of the show.
The Sesamplein pilot was eventually televised on January 3, 1996, celebrating twenty years of Sesamstraat.
