“Would you like to taste a little?” Feije Dijksterhuis from the teff farm of the same name in Hijken offers a market visitor a little brinta from the grain product. A multitude of regional products can be found at the harvest festival in Meppen.
Barely an hour after the opening, the fifth edition of the harvest festival in Meppen is already very busy. From birdhouses to wool products and from plants and tea to jewelry and homemade liqueurs: the range is wide. “We have 85 stalls this year,” grins chairman Martin Caron.
“From 2019 onwards, we have started to organize it more tightly,” says the Meppen resident. “The event kept getting bigger. We received more and more registrations from exhibitors. People enjoy the small streets here. Since then we have been taking a bigger approach.”
Storm
Last year’s edition turned out to be a disappointment. “It was such bad weather that Saturday. In the afternoon it started to rain and storm. We all hung on the stalls to keep them in place and now look at this!”, Caron beams.
The second day was canceled last year after the disappointing first. That seems to be going to be rectified this Saturday and Sunday. “We had never been here before, so we thought: we’ll get on our bikes and go have a look,” says Gekelien Kooijmans, who lives with friend Lisa and sister-in-law Kimberly and their four young children (“Well, four and a half, because there is still one on the way”) sitting on the catering square.
“It’s really nicely set up!” “And there is a lot of good food!”, the young women from Oosterhesselen shout enthusiastically. Their offspring are also having a great time. For example, the piglets of a Pied Bentheimerzeug from the ‘t Zwien farm in Gees, which can be petted, are a hit with the little ones.
Neus
Nearby is the stall of Jolanda and her husband Ronald Stultiens, who live literally 15 meters away. The entrepreneurial couple started De Neut Company earlier this year. They sell twelve different types of DIY liquors. Customers buy a bottle with a herbal mixture and can make liqueur from it at home. “Add vodka, let it sit for two weeks, then shake, sift out the herbs, add water and sugar and you’re done,” Jolanda explains.
The Drents Neutje, which consists of a mixture of juniper berries, pine needles and rosemary, is very popular, she says. “And because of the Van Gogh year we have also developed a blue anise liqueur with the name and image of the painter on the bottle.”
The exhibitors do not only come from the region. Rianne Schaafsma and daughter Emma (11) have a small goat farm in the Frisian Kollumerzwaag and sell goat cheese, among other things. “Sales are going well,” says Rianne, while her daughter helps a customer. It is a hobby that got out of hand, she says. “We can’t make a living from it, but we don’t have to. We want to remain small-scale. I work on the side as an assistant real estate agent. Completely different,” she laughs.
Bird feathers
Bettina Regeling-Cabrera comes from Apeldoorn. The artist (52), originally from Paraguay, sells homemade paintings on wood, but also painted bird feathers. “I have been painting since I was 5 and trained as an architect in Paraguay. I do both now. Painting bird feathers is done more in the US and Great Britain, but almost never in the Netherlands,” she says, while curious market visitors view her colorful works.
Meanwhile, actors from the Drenthe Association ‘t Aol Volk are preparing to stage a traditional farmer’s wedding. Caron: “We would have liked to have a real couple married here in a traditional manner by Mayor Renze Bergsma. We searched for months, but unfortunately we were unable to find a couple.”