Eindhoven seems to host a lot of festivals/events at this time of year. Not only that, but they are all “unique” for the country. As I mentioned in my Deventer post, I suppose everywhere has their trademark or something that they like to show off, so Eindhoven, being the home of Philips, likes to do things with light.
Every year since the end of WWII, the city has put up a lichtjesroute. I think the route and the lights change slightly every year, but the route is usually around 25km long, through the north and south of the city. Along the route there are little artworks made of lights. (I didn’t take my camera along, as it doesn’t take very good night pictures, so take a look at the official photos page if you’re curious.) The lights are switched on every night between 7pm and 11pm, and it runs from September 18 (the anniversary of the liberation of Eindhoven) to the second Sunday in October.
I only got around to doing about 15km of the route with one of my colleagues, and on that Sunday, there were only a few cyclists and the odd car (the lazy way to see the route) to be seen. At certain points, people had set up stands selling icecream and neon light things, but there didn’t seem to be many takers. We were even offered lollies — we declined, so I don’t know if they were free or not.
However, once we reached the pond near Boschdijk, then we found all the crowds. The pond had the most spectacular setup of the entire route: a recreation of the Smurf Village. Even the houses surrounding the pond had lit-up smurfs attached to them. Apart from smurfs, there are also balloons, chickens in eggs, parachutists, seahorses, signs of the zodiac, kites, circus animals, the Evoluon, other unidentifiable buildings, cats etc. to be seen along the route. It’s not the most exciting event, but it’s worth seeing as an Eindhoven tradition.
