No horns, music or bright lights for a while, but the sonorous sound of leaf blowers resounds across the empty fairground. “Just the finishing touches,” said market master Gertjan Timmer. “What could be better than everything being neatly arranged?”
The Zuidlaardermarkt opens on Friday evening with the fair. According to the organization, this is already the 824th time, although the archives become more vague as the years go by. It is easier to count for the market master himself: this year will be his third edition. “Every year you have some healthy tension. I wasn’t there all the first 823 times,” says Timmer. “When time starts to run out, I get some healthy tension. But when I see what the fair looks like, I just enjoy it.”
The market has yet to open, but preparations have already been underway, according to baker Herman Ligthart. “The whole village is looking forward to it, you can tell. It’s starting to come alive and sparkle. Just like a bottle of champagne when you pop the cork. Really nice.” For example, in Ligthart’s bakery itself they have been baking Zuidlaarderbollen non-stop for weeks. “The first one that goes into the oven and the last one that comes out are all the same. We also enjoy making it.”
Pierre Benner from the oliebollenkraam is also looking forward to the market. Twenty years ago he already went to the market with his parents. For him and many of his colleagues at the fair, the Zuidlaardermarkt is the end of the fair season. “It’s a pleasant ending. The horse market has something special with the people, the atmosphere, the night. The whole picture.”