A village full of colored lights. Beautifully decorated houses and farmyards. Fires burning and stalls with hot chocolate, wool and Christmas pieces. Thousands of people strolling through the village for two days. That, in short, is Gees in Wintersphere.
The village opens its doors for two days at the end of November. It is a foretaste of all the Christmas markets to come, and the starting signal for the festive December months.
“Pretty much every resident participates and decorates his or her own house with lights,” says chairman Anneke Doornbos proudly. “And some people make their yards or driveways available for the stalls. The solidarity we all have is really beautiful.”
Jan and Melanie Willekens, who live on the edge of the Gees, also participate. “We moved to Gees a little bit because of this,” they say laughing. Six years ago they sold their house in the West and settled in Gees. “We knew the village because we have family living here, and we really love Gees in its winter atmosphere.”
And it shows. Their farm is illuminated, there are several exhibitors in the large barn, the couple and their daughter have dressed up as characters that fit right into a Dickens story and fires are burning everywhere in the yard. Visitors sit on straw bales with a cup of coffee.
A scene that you see in many places in Gees, with even a small medieval village in the middle where the participants spend the night in tents. Iron is forged and cooking is done on a campfire.
You can see it in this episode of Expeditie Nederland.