More than 750 trees from Cuijk will be loaded with man and power on dozens of trailers on Wednesday. They don’t go to a park or forest, but come in the middle of the highway. The special piece of nature is part of the ‘Op de Ring’ festival in honor of the 750th anniversary of Amsterdam. “It is almost a military operation,” says project leader Sofie Ebben.
It is a coming and going of trucks on a piece of land on Beversestraat. Sofie is busy steering everything in the right direction. “We are busy loading the 750 trees on the trailers today and tomorrow. Or actually 785 trees, because we have something extra to be sure.”
“We have many different types of trees, but the elm is the most important,” she says, walking among the trees. “It has a special meaning for the city of Amsterdam. Since the Middle Ages they have been planted along the canals of the city. That is why the species certainly cannot be missing.”
The ‘special project’ for the tree nursery from Vianen, municipality of Land van Cuijk, started months ago. “It was designed by landscape artist Bruno Doedens. A few years ago he came up with a movable forest in Leeuwarden. And he knew us, because we were also supplier of the trees there.”
The trees that will be moved to Amsterdam in the coming days are all about four years old. They have been in specially made bins for four months. They have to be loaded diagonally on the truck, Rob van Lanen knows, who stops working for a moment to erase the sweat of his forehead. “With a special turning and tilting system we can lay the trees tilted. If they were upright, they cannot go under the lane signaling signs.”
The 65 trailers full of trees will go to the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam in the coming days. “There we collect them and then we can place the trees on the highway on Saturday night. It is almost a military operation with a huge time pressure. That is really going on all sails, but we have prepared ourselves well,” says Ebben.
“And if the festival is that Saturday, then we are sleeping,” she adds smiling. “To then remove the trees from the highway the next night. They then go to the so -called tree campsite. That is the storage place for the trees, because they will not come back here.”
The trees are eventually spread over the different neighborhoods of the city. “If the time comes, the project is successful. As we say in Brabant: ‘Keeigaaf’. We are going to talk about this for a long time, I think.”
Festival ‘On the Ring’
On Saturday, June 21, 2025, almost half of the A10 (the ring of Amsterdam) will close. On about 15 kilometers of highway there are various events, including the forest, music, sports, dance, art, food and drinks.
There was a lot of enthusiasm for the free festival, the organization writes on the website of the 750th anniversary. Around 600,000 people wanted to go to the party, while there is room for 280,000 people.
Due to the expected heat this weekend, the asphalt can be around 50 degrees. Measures are being taken. One of these measures is that 30,000 people can get less, late De Telegraaf know.