Liberation Day festival in the town centre. Photo Luuk Zegers It’s allowed again at last: celebrating freedom in Wageningen town centre. Resource went along to savour the atmosphere and to look for WUR students. ‘I am a Covid student, so it is really cool to see the town as you’ve never seen it before.’
For those walking around the centre of Wageningen on Thursday 5 May, the Covid pandemic already feels like history. The sun is shining, young and old stroll through the town with a beer or a bottle of water in hand, and music blares from the various podia. Biology student Jesse is behind the bar at the podium outside KSV Franciscus. ‘For me it’s the first time there is a real Liberation Festival in Wageningen. I went to the techno breakfast. Everyone goes to the Binnenveld in the morning to drink beer and have breakfast to the sound of techno music. A nice, chill way of waking up.’
Jesse is seeing a new side of Wageningen on Liberation Day. ‘I am a bit of a Covid student. I was in the Covid exam year, so I didn’t take exams at the end of secondary school. I came to Wageningen without really being able to discover things. So now it’s really cool to see the city as you’ve never seen it before.’
Puck, a student of Animal Sciences, is out and about with her housemates Jente (International Development Studies) and Lara (Landscape Architecture). ‘For me it’s the fifth time I’m here on 5 May, but only my third Liberation Festival’, says Puck. ‘I am glad that Liberation Day can be celebrated again. Yesterday, during the Remembrance Day ceremony, we thought about the people who are no longer with us and we all sat on the sofa and cried. And now we’re going to let it all go, not think about uni for a while, and really enjoy ourselves.’
What does freedom mean, actually? Lara: ‘It means that I can go wherever I want and that I can express my own opinion without it being anyone else’s business. I think it’s great when people have their own opinions.’
It’s Jente’s first 5 May in Wageningen. ‘So I don’t know exactly what goes on yet. It is nice here at our local pub, but we will also walk around to see the rest of the town. I am curious about what is happening in other places and I am looking forward to celebrating freedom there as well.’
Jorik, a student of Molecular Life Sciences has already experienced 5 May in all its glory a few times. ‘I definitely missed it. Great that it’s all possible again.’ He is sitting in the grass with his friends. ‘We are spending the whole day at the festival. We walk up and down a bit and now we’re chilling out. We’ll go to another podium later.’
![[Seriously?] University and Research swap labour agreements](https://www.resource-online.nl/app/uploads/2023/04/WEB_De-neus.png)