Geert Nijhof has been active in the International Folkloristic Dance festival SIVO in the Netherlands Since 1985 and a member of IOV Netherlands since 1993.
He presided over the SIVO festival in the period between 1990 and 2005, in which he collaborated with many folklore organizations from around the whole world.
He has been working as a freelance impresario for the SIVO-festival since 2005 in which he arranged a lot of cultural exchanges between groups in several countries. He also helped
with the organization of many other international festivals as well. He aims to preserve the traditional cultural heritage of all nations and to improve understanding between people from all nations by organizing festivals and other activities.
He was elected head of the IOV Netherlands section in March 2012 and has been active as the chair of the IOV-World Festival Commission, since the General Assembly of 2016.
His aspires to keep contributing to the IOV and to prove helpful in improving and maintaining a healthy and active IOV in addition to bridging the gap between festival organizations and folk-art groups.