Liberation Day in Wageningen

It is 5 May, and the flags that were flown at half-mast yesterday are flying proudly from the mast summits again. It is a crisp spring morning under an open sky when the crowds arrive in Wageningen.  

Shuttle buses packed to their capacity with liberation celebration visitors weave back and forth between the parking lot and the city of Wageningen, which is almost unrecognisable from all the stages that have been erected. A smoke bomb was hurled at one such stage during Prime Minister Schoof’s speech at around 1 p.m. Emma*, student Forest and Nature Management, witnessed the incident. ‘I heard a dull bang, but I thought it was part of the act.’ Fortunately, the impact is limited, although Wageningen made the national news.

Commemoration

Liberation Day is all about freedom. WUR students are well aware that freedom is not to be taken for granted. Emma visited the commemoration event for those fallen in the war in Wageningen last night. ‘There is something magical about such a crowd of people being silent at the same time, and all you can hear is the chirping of the birds and the rustling of the leaves.’

Wageningen PE teacher Niels Hagen also commemorated those who gave their lives for our freedom last night, albeit via his car hi-fi: ‘I always think about my grandfather, who had to seek shelter during the bombing of Rotterdam. We must never forget the past and should cherish our freedom, especially on a day like today.’  There is no lack of celebration of our freedom today, with no less than 18 stages and different genres of music for each of them, ranging from Dutch pop and club bands to techno and poetic post-punk.

Dancing

Nisse Donders (21), a bachelor student in Forest and Nature Management and bass player in the Utrecht punk band Apeshit, plays on the ‘Kabaal Am Gemaal’ stage: ‘Wageningen is great, and the audience is very enthusiastic. Seeing so many of our acquaintances jump and push around among the pogo dancers is really cool.’

Roxy Dekker is the most popular act of the afternoon. The gates are closed due to the huge turnout. A Wageningen police officer guards the gates. ‘Freedom is important, but has its limits. Everyone must be free to do as they please, without negatively impacting others. And that is why we are here.’

Roxy Ro

The crowd is not just massive at the ‘Roxy Ro’ stage. The club bands also draw a considerable crowd of students. The Argo Band gets the entire audience dancing to their covers of Abba, the Spice Girls and the Backstreet Boys.

The crowd slowly disperses in the evening, and the flags are lowered. Exhausted and spent from all the excitement, Wageningen crawls into bed at around midnight.

*Full name known to the editors.

Also read:

Column Willy Contreras-Avilés: The Privilege of a Liberation

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