Preparations are well underway. Volunteers toil with bolts and nuts, pressing steel tubes one by one into the ground. At the end of the day, there should be a big stage on the currently bare lawn as top artists one by one will take the stage on Saturday night.
“Janice, Snowbulkis, Frans Bauer and Henk Wengård,” smiles Eddie Mensink. “If he doesn’t come, he’s missing something,” he adds.
The festival has its own peculiarity Root In Overijsselse Lemelerveld, but after one year she moved to Burger. This event has been around for nineteen years now. It is now an indispensable part of the Drenthe festival calendar. “People have grown up with it and can’t ignore it anymore. A big family celebration, it’s really nice to see.”
The work at the festival is not only about the audience, but also about the people who work behind the scenes. “Colleagues feel like family. We organize this party about seven times a year in different places in the country and every time we prepare, it’s a party. We do everything at our own pace, and most of all we have fun,” says Mensink.
With this attitude, Mensink will continue to build the festival in the coming days. “It can all be finished in a day, but we work at our own pace and above all we have a lot of fun together.”
He hopes to postpone his retirement for a long time and continue working at this festival for years to come. “I am now 56 years old, but if it were up to me I would continue for decades. It is really addictive, and I completely enjoy it,” says the satisfied organizer.
Festival tickets can also be won on the program throughout the week Steenbergen Studio On Radio Drenthe.
A few months ago, RTV Drenthe made the following documentary about the popularity of pirate music in Drenthe:
