It’s Vlattetjesdag (Flag Day) in Schevinengen, the day that celebrates the new herring catch. Hundreds of thousands descend on Scheveningen’s harbour as do we. The Dutch force the elderly members of their community to dress in their 300 year old clothes – women in long skirts and lacy bonnets ‘with wings’ and men in baggy black trousers and red neck scarves, stand in their clogs and weave fish nets or man traditional craft stalls (cheese making, clogging) for spectators. Grown men display and amuse themselves with their remote control wooden model boats and trucks. Everybody else is expected to eat raw herring, drink unpasteurized milk and watch and listen to uniformed marching bands. There are dozens of beer on tap tents to help people get through it. A bridal couple ride on segways through the crowd and I am reminded of the Dutch phrase: “Act normal that’s crazy enough”
No comments:
Post a Comment