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Game small child tackling skills training course
on the Burg. |
Too
much rain in the past week yet Autoloze Zondag dawned cool but sunny.
As I walked to the Crowne Plaza hotel this morning at around 6.45,
stalls were being erected on the Burg ready for activities from 10.00
and, no doubt, other sites were in similar early preparation. The
idea of lots of fun and games, and interesting things to see and do
during a day when cars are forbidden in the streets of the Egg, is
somehow really joyful and different. It marks the whole day as very
particular, as the Italians would say; distinctive, significant,
exceptional.
And in the case of Brugge, great fun!
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Marec, acknowledging the honour in slightly
insouciant style! |
And so
it has proved. Hundreds if not thousands, thronging the streets of
Brugge and a holiday atmosphere everywhere. I went first to the
Feestelijke Opening in the entrance courtyard to the Biekorf
Theatrezaal, the Library Theatre. It was crowded partly because
citizens are interested in what is happening in their town and also
because, after the ceremony there was free beer, soft drinks and
coffee! I do like the notion of designating a space, like this
courtyard, with a different honorary name associated with culture, each year. Until today, it
had been Jacqueline Compernolleplein then, from around 11.00 this
morning, it has been christened Marec-plein in honour of a Bruggean
cartoonist whose shop is nearby in Sint Jakobstraat. There were
speeches, to set the context, to thank Jacqueline and present her with
a gift and to confer the honour on Marec whose good humour amused everyone
throughout! There were families there with babies and toddlers and
lots of older townspeople, all interested, greeting each other with
much kissing and hand shaking. It was yet another example of the
community spirit engendered here through a variety of activities and
events during the year.
I was
determined to scour the Rommelmarket which seemed to run the length
of Langestraat, to try to find a friend, absent from our Wednesday
coffee mornings for ages, whose husband has been summarily dispatched
to work in Sydney! She and a friend normally have a stall on any
Rommelmarkt going in Brugge. I found her and her well-stocked tables
and we caught up. He is already there, their house is sold and they
finally leave Brugge in early January; she, meantime, is trying to be
positive about an unwanted three year move from Europe to the
Antipodes and is planning to initiate or join antique/bric-a-brac/Rommelmarkt
activities somewhere in Sydney after they find a house to buy.
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| Future Ringo Starrs? |
En
route to and from her stall I soaked up the happy atmosphere and
watched children trying to play drums in Sint Jakobstraat, master a
bicycle course for toddlers in the Burg, having a jolly go on art
through ‘cycling’ on a stall where the adult in charge tipped paints into a
sort of wheel and the cycle attached, when powered by a small person,
mixed, and produced, glorious effects. The whole of Sint Jakobsstraat
was given over to stalls on ‘culture’ covering chiefly art and
music. The Markt was full of tourists and townspeople ,
walking through, sitting at cafe tables in the sun, watching a
performance on the usual makeshift stage which one so often sees
here, appearing, mushroom-like overnight for a performance the next
day. I didn’t understand what the chat show on the stage was really
about but it involved dedicated cyclists and a noisy question master in a
back-facing baseball cap!! The atmosphere was upbeat. I have to add that this year's was a particularly impressive programme. I failed to make it to the Concertgebouw which was open for tours, musical performances and family workshops. I missed the 5km run through the historic centre; the wheelchair obstacle course, the mussels festival and concert on the Vismarkt and tango in Simon Stevinplein. In fact I walked past the Vismarkt at around 19.00 and the mussels were just finishing but a robust women-only act on the stage was in full swing to the crowded arena.
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| Ecstatic cycling artist can be seen, in pink bow. |
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A higher tone set in the entrance to
the Conservatoire. |
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En route at 19.00 to Minderbroedersstraat next to Astridpark,
I chanced upon this very relaxed plastic cow outside
a super cheese shop! |
