Orchestrated organisation

The Dutch have a reputation for being extremely organised. An example of this is that tickets for concerts are known to go on sale 364 days in advance. Case in point: tickets for Within Temptation’s Amsterdam concert at Carré on 26 April 2010 went on sale 27 April 2009. This is a one-off thing though.

There are also a range of more regular concerts that are bookable (and as a result sell out) ages in advance. Brabant’s favourite son Guus Meeuwis has put on concerts at the Philips Stadion for the last five years now. Next concert? 11 June 2010. When did tickets go on sale? 12 June 2009. I kid you not. It’s not sold out yet though.

The most far ahead I’ve booked tickets for a seated event is five months. (Even booking tickets to Mamma Mia! three months ahead was problematic, as it turned out one companion had to be in Utrecht the day of the performance for a workshop which we didn’t know about at the time of booking.) This was for the Night of the Proms, an annual concert which started in Antwerp 25 years ago and now travels to the Netherlands, Germany, and sometimes Spain and France. The lineup changes every year — this year we were treated to Roxette, Sharon from Within Temptation, OMD, and classical guitarists the Katona twins.

The nature of a “prom” is that there is a standing area in which people can move around. It did look like fun in that area — there was dancing at one point — however one would get tired standing for three hours. The audience was mostly adult groups with some families here and there. I think there was a mix of people who attend every year as well as a large number of Roxette fans (including my companions).

In the first half, each artist performed one or two songs with the orchestra, interspersed with orchestra-only classics. After the interval, some of the artists performed duets, while Roxette performed a longer set by themselves. The night headed towards an end with a singalong of Land of Hope and Glory (a feature of British proms) and an apparently well-known song from one of the artists who performs most years at the Prom and whom I’d never heard of before. If I’d heard of John Miles and his 1976 UK top 3 single “Music” before, then I could have sang along as well. That was a clue that most of the attendees were regulars.

There’s really nothing in Australia that compares to these annual recurring seated events, which also includes Holiday on Ice, Christmas circuses etc. I think it becomes a bit of a ritual. Carols by Candlelight comes close, however tickets go on sale eight weeks in advance, and it’s also telecast on live screens in the city and on TV, so you don’t have to be there for it to be a ritual. In the Prom programme, there was an order form to get tickets for next year’s Prom, even before the artists have been announced.

I wonder what the driver is here: whether the managers or ticket companies like doing things so far ahead or whether society demands it. Either way, there doesn’t seem to be the same frenzy for tickets that accompanies concerts in Australia (although getting Pinkpop tickets is now becoming a rush like the Big Day Out). However, I won’t be getting tickets for one of Within Temptation’s April shows: I still have no idea what I’ll be doing that far ahead and by the time I do know, it’ll be sold out.

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This time last year, I went to Breda to check out the glass house set up for the annual 3FM (the Dutch equivalent of Triple J) Serious Request, from which DJs broadcast for a week in order to raise money for Red Cross (Rode Kruis) activities. Eindhoven made the shortlist to host the house this year, however lost to Groningen. As a semi-replacement, Eindhoven students are currently living in their own glass house for 100 hours at the Catharinaplein, before travelling to Groningen on Tuesday to deliver their collection. Donations can be made online by requesting a song, purchasing Christmas cards and stamps or creating a virtual help package and will go towards malaria prevention programmes.

Lichtstad

How many Dutch people does it take to change a lightbulb?
Three. One to change the bulb, and two to hold the bicycle steady.

Many activities, permanent and seasonal, focus on light and how it was behind the development of Eindhoven. Which makes it all the more hilarious when all the lightbulbs in my apartment blow at the same time — this time it took a week to find replacements, due to Philips changing product lines (because of the new European rules about incandescent bulbs, I assume) and Albert Heijn’s infamously useless shelf stocking policies. So much for living in the Lichtstad.

During the Museumweekend earlier this year, I visited the Gloeilampfabriekje. This is housed in one of the original lightbulb factory buildings in the centre of Eindhoven and is only accessible as part of a tour. Old equipment and examples of lightbulb fabrication techniques are demonstrated. The factory was set up by Gerard Philips in the late 1800s, who had learnt about lightbulbs while he was working in Scotland and brought his knowledge back to the Netherlands. Most of the original employees were young girls from the surrounding farms, which was a reason for locating the factory in the “countryside”. Some of the tour guides were pointing out their grandparents in the old photos.

Move forward to the mid 1940s, when the Lichtjesroute was started to celebrate the liberation of Eindhoven after WWII. I rode a portion of it again, however discovered it was practically same as last year with a few new features and some lights had changed positions. The rainbow on the Vestdijk (complete with pot of gold) was impressive. My cycling companions noted that it had a very community feel about it. Again, it’s something that has to be experienced.

Jumping forward in time to the current age and the GLOW light art festival. Although it seemed like there was less walking involved this year, installations didn’t seem as evenly spread throughout the city — several things were probably more easily reached with a bike. I liked what I saw though. The addition of performance locations was slightly annoying (in that one had to time the tour correctly in order to arrive at the performance on time), however it was a welcome change from installation after installation. The brass band outside the church was great (although we weren’t treated to Led Zeppelin as shown in their promotional clip) and so was the Designhuis with the giant lightbulbs emitting light and noise. For those who couldn’t make it to Eindhoven: by visiting a particular website, you could control a spotlight located at the train station set up to follow people.

The local student news website Shift040 pointed out that light artists are somehow immune from energy saving protests, so I’m curious to see if GLOW changes next year in response to this. The Lichtjesroute organisers are currently changing the bulbs in their displays for LED lamps, however it will be a slow and expensive process. Maybe it would be quicker if they didn’t need two people to hold the bike steady.

Ferhalen

Eleven provinces later, I’ve seen a fair bit of the Netherlands. I finally picked up my Fryslân stamp by visiting Leeuwarden (known as birthplace of Mata Hari, and as the starting point of the skating tour Elfstedentocht) and Sneek (known for watersports and the Weduwe Joustra brewery, responsible for the local liquor Beerenburg (jenever with herbs) — and stop two on the Elfstedentocht).

Fryslân has two official languages: Frisian and Dutch. Frisian seems to be similar to Luxembourgish in usage — it’s not heard too much on the streets, but spoken more in private. I only heard a few words spoken, most noticeably by a mother to her children. A few steps later, she was speaking Dutch to a stranger at the ATM.

Several bookstores in Leeuwarden had extensive Frisian sections, and there is also a speciality bookstore/publisher. Poetry could be found embedded in the footpaths of Leeuwarden. The website Praat mar Frysk [fy], fronted by international supermodel Doutzen Kroes, encourages people to speak Frisian in stores and with your friends (that’s as much as I could understand).

Fryslân did not disappoint on the local food front. Sûkerbôle is a form of sugar bread which is wonderful warmed up in the oven. It’s not dissimilar to the consistency of hot cross buns, but with sugar instead of fruit and peel. Oranjekoek is also delicious, and is apparently the celebration cake of choice in the north. I’d much prefer that to vlaai any day, although the almonds in it would drive me mad after a while.

To make up for missing a family wedding, I went to see an exhibition of dinnerware given as wedding presents at the Keramiekmuseum. One room displayed gifts to the members of the royal family on the occasions of their weddings, and another showed gifts to general members of the population over the last 100+ years. Some of it was lovely, and some really hideous. I’m not sure if I’d be admitting that I received an Ikea 365+ set as a present. On top of that, some of the accompanying wedding photos were hilarious. I wonder if my sister-in-law received any dinnerware …

One of my major issues with Eindhoven is that the market is never open at convenient times. In Leeuwarden, the city market is on Fridays between 7:30am and 4:30pm. I saw produce still exchanging hands at around 5pm. On top of that, the side streets contained some cute independent shops, while the large chains still had a presence around the market area.

While I was in Leeuwarden, I stayed a night at the Stenden University Hotel, staffed by current students of hotel and hospitality management. It’s quite strange to walk through the uni on the way to the rooms — no wonder a guide was needed. In general, the students were very enthusiastic and professional, however checking out did cause a few problems. For the price, the room was huge with a luxurious bathroom, and the buffet breakfast was delicious.

Taking into account people/culture, food, museums, shopping and hospitality, Fryslân delivered a relaxing weekend break. Some souvenirs are yet to be sampled: a bottle of Beerenberg and traditional biscuits known as dúmkes.

In order to complete the set of provinces, I need to visit one more. The travel guides however are not promising so far — the only interesting thing I’ve found about Drenthe is cycling. If anyone has any ideas for Drenthe, I’d love to hear them.

As featured at Dutch Design Week

Dutch Design Week is a huge event in Eindhoven every October. More so this year, as Eindhoven is currently one of the finalists (with Helsinki) for World Design Capital 2012. Apparently 115,000 visitors checked out at least one of the 290 events at one of 60 locations (however I have no idea how that number was calculated, seeing as most events were free).

Best of the awards: During Brazil Contemporary I visited Museum Boijmans van Beuningen and quite liked its strange looking coat rack which spins around and coathangers bounce up and down. This so-called merry-go-round coat rack picked up the overall prize at the annual Dutch Design Awards. The Popular Choice prize was given to an enormous flying carpet that brings a little bit of green to a city centre.

Best-dressed: It didn’t occur to me that the town would be crawling with designers dressed up to the nines, but it was.

Things that were functional: A lot of things fitted into this category, including:

• A bed frame that can change into a single bed, a double bed or two singles. You’re looking at around €3000 for the frame and mattress set though.
• A chair with a built-in magazine rack. Very useful for waiting rooms.
• Ever been stuck at an airport for hours on end with nowhere to sit? Well, you might find a set of bizarrely-shaped suitcases which can be formed into a mini-couch useful. Although what happens if you’ve already checked your luggage in?

Things that are semi-functional: Douwe Egberts demonstrated a prototype of their touch-screen vending machines. Points for the first screen, which effectively became a giant iPod after you ordered, displaying local news and weather. The next two screens were rather pretty and pointless, while the last required you to jump up and down to “collect” the ingredients for your chosen beverage before it would spit it out. Apparently the coffee was quite nice — hot chocolate wasn’t on offer so I couldn’t try it out.

Possibly functional for someone but not me: Ever wanted to perform for your friends but have no musical ability? Then Mustick is for you. Kind of ditto for the Dancerail, although this was commissioned by a professional dance company who are using it in performances. Both were projects by TU/e Industrial Design students.

Taking the online to the real world: Coathangers with built-in LEDs — the hangers will light up depending on what you already have in your shopping basket. A “what other people bought” for physical shops.

Things that were pretty and have a use but you wouldn’t use them because they’re too pretty: Carola Zee makes gorgeous bowls and cups.

Things that were original but really had no functional use: A tie between the paper animals at MU (including imaginary animals made from newspapers) and the province flags at Krabbedans whose patterns were a punchcard representation of the provincial anthems.

Strange food: At Strijp-S there was a cafe serving only potato-based dishes. Potato muffins, potato bread etc. It was fittingly called the Potato Eaters. Didn’t get a chance to sample anything though. I also would like to know what one ate during a Dutch Design Dinner — it cost €135 (including drinks).

Sustainability/reusability: This was part of the theme for the Design Capital bid, so items such as bags and other products made from Colombian truck tyres, sustainable cable holders made from potato peel and corn, and electric cars and public chargers were on display.

After a whole week visiting something almost every day, I was exhausted and I wasn’t even involved. It was fascinating to see lots of different ideas in one go and many designers were on hand to demonstrate their products and explain the process. Now the wait is on for the announcement of World Design Capital 2012 in late November.

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Dutch Design Week returns to Eindhoven 16-24 October 2010.

New Holland

Waiting at the domestic terminal at Cairns Airport recently for a flight back to Melbourne, I noticed a destination flash up on the departures board: Groote Eylandt. It’s a strange name for place in Australia — I even have no idea how the locals pronounce it. But it’s immediately obvious that it’s a form of Dutch, although not using particularly modern spelling, meaning “large island”. In order to demonstrate how large it is, Groote Eylandt is about the same size as the province of Groningen, or the Australian Capital Territory.

A few things have got me thinking lately about Australia’s past. Firstly, a post from Nick Bryant, the BBC correspondent in Sydney, about the strength of British culture in Australia. I was recently in England and everything (apart from the money) felt incredibly familiar, despite it being only my second trip through UK immigration.

Secondly, the history I was taught in secondary school was pretty shabby. We began with the First Fleet and continued through the 1800s, focussing on the gold rush. We were taught very little about the indigenous peoples and pretty much nothing prior to 1788, although I was aware that the Dutch had done some exploring. I read Gary Crew’s Strange Objects a long, long time ago, but the story of the Batavia had completely slipped my mind until I visited the replica in Lelystad last year. Some of the survivors of the shipwrecked Batavia reached the mainland and met the indigenous peoples, long before the British did.

Thirdly, the history of Dutch Brazil got me thinking how it would have been different if the Dutch had managed to keep control there. Given that the Dutch skirted around the northern and western coasts of Australia in the 1600s (leading to place names such as Groote Eylandt that are still used today) but never settled, what would have been different if Australia had remained New Holland?

I’m an engineer, not an historian nor a writer of alternative history, so I haven’t come up with anything radical. Nick Bryant mentions a lot of influence on media and sport. The influence from England has led to cricket, netball and rugby being popular sports in Australia. Hockey also originated in England, and is one of the few sports I can think of in which both the Netherlands and Australia are strong. Maybe korfball would have become more popular than netball.

If the Dutch had stayed for any length of time, I guess a form of Dutch would have become the standard language in Australia. Possibly another language could have triumphed, but it’s reasonable to expect that it would contain a lot of Dutch loanwords, as can be seen in Indonesian. There is a large amount of British programming on Australian TV, which helps with keeping the British influence alive, especially with respect to language. Possibly the New Holland public broadcaster schedules would be filled with Dutch programmes.

An interesting thought though is seeing as Australia is quite large, the Dutch could have settled in the north and the west, and the British could still have settled in the east. We could have ended up with a split situation, with two official languages/European cultures etc. alongside the cultures of the indigenous peoples. Who knows what that would have led to. In any case, it’s quite funny that Abel Tasman determined that Groote Eylandt was exactly that, when he was just 50km from a much bigger island.

On the box

Dutch television has a curious reputation. It was responsible for Big Brother, The Mole, and Hello Goodbye. However, not Survivor (Swedish) or The Block (Australian unfortunately). Speaking of Hello Goodbye, I always keep an eye out for Joris Linssen at Schiphol, and in June I saw him interviewing people waiting at arrivals. Somehow I managed to delete the sneaky non-flash photo I took.

De Wereld Draait Door was one of the first shows I saw on Dutch television and eventually became regular evening viewing. Firstly, because Matthijs van Nieuwkerk is reasonably cute and secondly, I was fascinated by the mix of culture and politics and sport and science. As a reward for passing the Staatsexamen I promised myself a visit to a taping. Although my Dutch skill was not displayed on the phone trying to book a ticket — after several minutes of trying to say my postcode, and then saying it several times in English, we finally found my street. My initials on the ticket were also incorrect. Time to relearn the alphabet.

Most of the studios are in Hilversum, just outside Amsterdam, but there’s a small one in Amsterdam itself near the zoo. The public channels operate on a broadcaster system, where each approved broadcaster gets so many hours a week depending on their member count, not dissimilar to how SBS divides up the time available for different languages in Australia. VARA is the main resident at Studio Plantage in Amsterdam and broadcasts two daily programs from there, as well as several weekly shows.

VARA certainly treats its audiences well. On arrival at the studio, we were offered coffee and tea, and when we moved inside the studio at around quarter to seven, we were offered another drink. At around seven, Matthijs spoke for 5-10 minutes about the show, why the audience was important, what else happens at Studio Plantage, and a rundown of the guests, including co-host Yvon Kaspers, who hosts the local version of Farmer Wants a Wife. While we waited for ONM to finish, music was played in the studio and we could get drinks from the in-studio bar if we wished. A promo was recorded at 7:25pm and we went live at 7:30pm.

It didn’t even feel like 45-50 minutes. The action moves around the studio, so something is always happening. As I suspected, most is adlibbed — Matthijs even deviated ever-so-slightly from the autocue lead-ins. Afterwards, we were welcome to have a drink at the in-studio bar, while the crew set up the studio for Pauw & Witteman, which goes out at 11pm.

I got home just in time to see the repeat broadcast. Now I can say I’ve been on Dutch TV.

On the left hand side looking interested in Matthijs and Yvon

My Dutch is still yet to recover from spending most of the summer overseas, but I can still understand a fair bit. What I’m missing though is context. One of the guests on the show was from a 1980s children’s show called Theo en Thea, and when Matthijs mentioned her there was an audible “ooh-aah” in the audience. I’m sitting there thinking “who? what show?”. It turns out one of my Dutch colleagues (who said the next day that she saw me on TV) was also not familiar with this show.

It probably has to be one of the more out-there things I’ve done, but I think it’s a good show to support. I definitely want to return, and next time have dinner in the studio beforehand. If only they would sell the format to Australia as a replacement for the early evening tabloid shows.

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Information on how to get tickets for VARA shows can be found at http://bijwonen.vara.nl. Tickets to DWDD cost €7 or are free for VARA members.

Innovation (x2)

TU/e biannually organises what’s known as Super TU/esday, which is a day-long forum of sorts, held on a Tuesday and is hosted by one of the faculties. September’s was hosted by Technology Management in collaboration with Brainport (the nickname for the high tech region around Eindhoven, Leuven and Aachen) and focussed on the innovative power of Eindhoven.

I only dropped by one session, which was on international context. Eindhoven is one of the most active regions in Netherlands for submitting patents, however if Philips is removed from the data, then Eindhoven drops down the list. A similar thing happens if electronics-related patents are removed, demonstrating the strength of Philips in the region. Another presentation looked at the number of shared publications with institutions in Eindhoven and other locations. Most collaboration appears to occur within short distances (e.g., UK, Germany, Belgium) and a large amount of collaborative activity occurs within the Netherlands. The final speaker was from ASML, one of the large high-tech companies based in Eindhoven, and spoke of the importance of collaboration for innovation companies.

Although I was impressed with the organisation, I still have an issue with Super TU/esday. Having a discussion on innovation and international collaboration in a language that not all Brainport employees understand is not entirely collaborative. It places a constraint on the presenters — they either have to be native Dutch speakers or have to have been here for a long time. The invitation is issued in two languages, but with a note in the English version that the day will be held in Dutch. I’m still not sure if that’s inclusive (by letting people know what’s going on) or exclusionary (unless you understand Dutch there’s no point attending). It’s a tricky situation.

The world is bigger than Eindhoven. Science and technology operate globally, and so should you. (Invitation, Opening of the 2009-2010 Academic Year, Eindhoven University of Technology)

Rewinding back a few more weeks: for the first time, the opening of the academic year at TU/e was held in English. As the first speaker, the chair of the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands, pointed out, the TU/e had chosen a different day (week 2 of semester, rather than week 1) and a different language to all the other universities. The latter was a suggestion from the Federatie Studieverenigingen Eindhoven, who should be applauded for their initiative, even if the Rector Magnificus claimed to have received hate mail about the change.

The week before, Minister Plasterk (Education, Culture and Science) had outlined his ideas for restructuring the higher education system at the opening at Twente which gained some media coverage. He did a postdoc in California, so it’s no surprise that he’s looking to the US as an example. However, the guests at the TU/e were less attention-seeking. The second speaker, astronaut André Kuipers, told a story about his time in space. When he landed in Kazakhstan after a quick trip to the ISS, the first thing he had to do was to go through passport control and get his visa. I wonder if he got questioned as much as I did going to the UK.

After six months in the country in September 2007, I certainly didn’t feel welcome at the academic opening. This time, there was a much better atmosphere, and I bumped into a fellow native English speaker who had only been in the country for a few weeks and it was great that she was able to experience and enjoy it. All the presenters were Dutch though, so the enthusiasm for and emphasis on the international community felt a bit forced; surely a non-Dutch guest/presenter could have been found. In any case, overboard is much preferred to exclusion.

In a cinema near you

The Dutch aren’t known for their films. I guess I’m not the target audience though — it’s mostly “war film[s], romantic comed[ies] or children’s or family film[s]” (Filmkrant). No wonder I stick mostly to English language films, although German and Brazilian films are turning up on my list.

Despite the poor reputation, the Dutch have done reasonably well at the Oscars. Over the last 25 years, they have won best foreign film three times (De aanslag: read the book, watched the film; Antonia; Karakter) and have had two nominations (De tweeling and Zus & zo). The entry for this year is Wit licht, which was not well-received on its release, however was re-edited and submitted to Cannes, where it received a standing ovation.

Each year, there seems to be one single blockbuster around Sept/Oct. 2006’s Zwartboek went on to an international release and big things for Carice van Houten, while 2007’s Alles is liefde was a direct ripoff of Love Actually with a distinctive Dutch twist (and also Carice van Houten). So far these films are the only recipients of a Diamanten Film award for more than one million viewers at the cinema, possibly due to fitting into the categories of war film and romantic comedy respectively.

2008 and 2009 have seen a change in direction. Both hyped films had the same director, Ben Sombogaart, who also directed De tweeling. 2008’s Bride flight and 2009’s De storm have a lot of similarities. Both films are firmly placed in history — the Last Great Air Race from London to Christchurch in 1953 and the North Sea flood, also in 1953 — however create a fictional story around it. There are unmarried mothers and cases of parental dispute. (I’m being deliberately cagey for spoiler reasons, although this week’s Gouden Kalf awards gave away a twist in the best supporting actress clips.) Both start in 1953 and move forward in time.

I was hoping to get a copy of Bride flight for my grandparents, as they are about the same age as the characters in the film and I wondered if the New Zealand scenes with the interactions between the locals and new immigrants were familiar to them. However the unnecessarily graphic sex scenes put an end to that idea — a large amount could be cut and the story wouldn’t lose anything. It received an R13 rating in New Zealand for sex scenes and violence, and just recently received (as I guessed) an MA15+ in Australia for “strong sex scene and nudity”. The fact that the Australian rating doesn’t mention violence (and also this whole paragraph) shows the differing standards for sex and violence on film between Australia and Europe. However, the less-racy scenes in De tweeling and De storm show that Dutch filmmakers can be subtler when they want to.

Next on my to-watch list are the Paul Verhoeven pre-Hollywood classics Soldaat van Oranje and Oscar winner Turks fruit, both based on books. So far I’ve found that those based on books (or nab plots from other films) are the stronger films, but I’m still looking for a original movie that captures the modern Dutch ambience.

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Have you seen any of the films mentioned? Do you have any recommendations for good Dutch films? De storm is still showing at cinemas in the Netherlands. Bride flight doesn’t appear to have a release date in Australia yet.

Travelling

A tip of the week for expat bloggers: it does help if you’re actually in the country in order to write about it. This “summer” (as in late June to late September, as opposed to June-July-August), I’ve been on twelve different flights and visited eight different airports in five different countries and have probably been in the Netherlands for about four weeks.

On my travels, I managed to visit my home country (Australia), the home of my ancestors (England, although I suppose I’m technically of Scottish heritage, but they got on the boat in England), and the home of my in-laws’ ancestors (Germany). I have a lot of time for each country — where else could I be in a department store at 9pm on a Saturday night buying shoes?

The only thing I have to say about Melbourne in winter is that it’s colder than I remembered. However, Manchester in summer was just as cold. I also never thought I’d get so excited about English food, but I had the best curry ever in the Curry Mile. Walking into a convenience store and having a choice of so many Cadbury’s varieties could explain why Australia and the UK are among the most obese countries in the world.

I was also excited about the food in Dresden. It’s amazing that a quality main, dessert and a half litre of water can be had for about €15. That would set you back at least €25 in Eindhoven. Many slices and breadgoods were sampled, along with East German icecream covered in chocolate to disguise the flavour. Apart from food, palaces, rebuilt churches and huge shopping centres are the order of the day.

One morning I saw a group of people drinking beer at the station. So far, pretty normal for Germany. Except a) it was 9am b) the beer was in glasses c) they were at a bakery. Just one of those things being true is not quite right. However, a country where an advertising slogan of the local bakery is along the lines of “living without cake is possible, but not sensible” is always going to be in my good books.

In the meantime, I’ve managed to see a few of the Eindhoven events I mentioned. During the culture open day I saw Leon van der Zanden (a local cabaretier) perform for free (his shows sell out immediately, however a colleague went last week and was unimpressed, so I think I got the better deal), went on a backstage tour of the Parktheater, and visited the library for the first time. It was a good way to get a sampling of the upcoming cultural season. Eindhoven Trots 2009 was won by the lichtviaduct near the High Tech Campus, which would require a car to see, so I have no idea if it’s worthy or not. Finally, the Tunafestival was hit and miss: the acoustics in the main tent were appalling, however watching groups of musicians walking the streets performing incomprehensible Spanish music was much better and one of the stranger things I’ve seen in Eindhoven.

On top of that, I also neglected to mention Flux, a new art festival in mid-September, amongst other events. It appears that Eindhoven has a lot more going on in the autumn that I previously thought. It’s a good time to stay put for a month or two.

Eindhoven in autumn – preview

The title of this post originally contained the word “spring”, which shows you a) how bad my jetlag still is and b) that I’ve never quite worked out the different seasons. As I try to settle back into the northern hemisphere and plan some activities for the next few months, I remembered that autumn means Eindhoven actually comes to life.

The season starts with Hallo Cultuur! (6 Sep), where 14 cultural locations in Eindhoven will be open with free activities. Of note is the program at Parktheater, which includes previews of upcoming shows and backstage tours. Alternatively, the library is offering a glimpse at wedding traditions around the world.

The famous Lichtjesroute runs from 18 September to 11 October. In commemoration of the liberation of Eindhoven, a series of light sculptures are set up and can be seen between 19:00-23:00 every night. It’s best experienced on bicycle (the whole loop is 22km, but can be done in two or more parts), however the VVV also organises bus tours on some nights.

Voting starts on 31 August for the Pride of Eindhoven (Eindhoven Trots). This is an annual prize awarded to the best thing about Eindhoven. Nominations are submitted for people, groups and events in the categories light, design, sport, technology, and culture (i.e., all the things Eindhoven wants to be known for). The winner is announced by the mayor on 25 September.

One event I missed last year (possibly because it didn’t sound very Dutch) was the Tunafestival (25-27 Sep), which is a competition for Spanish-speaking student music groups. Groups will be performing in the market area on Friday night and Saturday afternoon.

After last year’s experience, I’m not sure if I’ll participate in the City Run this year as part of Marathon Eindhoven (11 Oct), as my training was waylaid due to an Australian winter. In any case, it’s certainly an entertaining and cheap day out. This year I’ll be making an effort to watch the marathon in the afternoon — the current Dutch champions are confirmed to start, and I assume more international participants will be announced later. For those interested in participating or getting started with running, online registration closes mid-September, and the national Start To Run program starts again at the same time.

One of the flagship events is Dutch Design Week, which will run from 17-25 October. The programme will be out soon, but it’s guaranteed that there will be plenty of exhibitions, lectures, workshops, and parties all about design.

A newer festival, Glow (6-15 Nov), is back for another year. It’s an international light art festival: images are projected onto buildings and sculptures are built in and around the city centre. It’s a grown-up, sophisticated version of the Lichtjesroute.

Glow was my highlight of last year’s Eindhoven-based festivals (and quite rightly the winner of Eindhoven Trots 2008), although this year I would like to see more of Design Week (I said that last year as well). I’ll probably pop back to the Lichtjesroute as well. For anyone looking for reasons to visit Eindhoven, these events should suffice.