An unusual funeral procession passed through Breda on Saturday afternoon. About 150 young people followed a worn coffin, because they believe that the cultural offer for young adults in the Nassau city is in danger of dying out.
Skatepark Pier15’s contract expires next year. Pop stage Phoenix is not doing well and the cultural breeding ground Electron has since disappeared. “Urban sports culture is slowly dying out here,” concludes 25-year-old Luc Beek.
And that is a bad thing, thinks Beek, who therefore organizes the funeral procession. “These are places where young adults are given the space to develop: they can contribute ideas about programming. There is skateboarding, basketball and art students hold exhibitions here. This is how young people derive their identity.”
To put a stop to that decline, Beek and about 150 others took action. They made a coffin under the heading: bad luck, culture gone. And carried that Saturday – accompanied by people with fireworks torches – through the city to bury him in the evening.
“We are commemorating the young adult culture. A nod to the municipality of Breda to show that these places have a right to exist,” explains Beek. “And to give the signal that action must be taken so that these places continue to exist. That’s really important.”