On Thursday afternoon, 14,000 students from Fontys Hogescholen party under a blazing sun. They came from all over the Netherlands to Tilburg to start the new academic year together. Most are freshmen and in this way they immediately get to know their new fellow students. Omroep Brabant subjected students who are new to our province to the BrabantQuiz.
It is three o’clock and 33 degrees when the party at the Spoorzone in Tilburg gets underway. “This is the end of the Fontys introduction week”, says organizer Mandy van Baardwijk. “That happens in Tilburg, but the participants will study in Eindhoven, Veghel, Venlo and Utrecht. We really do this so that all students from all study programs can connect with each other.”
From the sidelines it looks like a real festival: six stages with famous artists, long queues at the entrance, festival buses, plastic drinking cups and the smell of fast food. No beer is served until four o’clock.
first friends
According to Baardwijk, such an introduction week and festival are very important. “This is where you get to know your first friends. You notice that students who have been to the introduction week also have a good start to their student days.”
Something that was not possible for two years because of the corona virus. “We did have smaller introduction weeks. That helped at the start, but it was different because it mostly happened online.”
And that is also the reason that an extra number of second and third year students can be found at the festival this year, who still want to experience their introduction.
In the video you can see whether the new students can already call themselves real people from Brabant.