For the 64th time, the Brabantsedag passes through Heeze on Sunday. The 80-year-old Jos Heijligers saw them all: from a few farm carts with household goods to what is now the largest theater parade in the entire country. Throw in a dime and Jos strings together the highlights of recent years. “The parade enchants every year.”
“In the early 1950s, attempts were made twice in vain to hold a harvest festival. The Brabantsedag was then born. And the rest is history.”
This year, the sixteen associations participating in the theater parade set to work with the theme ‘Eureka!’ There was not yet a clear theme in the first editions of the Brabantsedag. “Three farmer’s carts with household goods on them moved through the village, as if they were moving. There were several hundred residents of Heeze on the side,” Jos recalls from his memory.
“Sunday was the farmers’ only day off.”
Jos himself participated in two of the 63 parades. Once as a musician in a German music corps and in 1995 with the Friends of Schenkels. ‘The dream of a girl from Brabant’ was then the theme of the Brabantsedag. “With more than a hundred extras, we pulled a huge Egyptian sphinx alone. That was great!”
The Brabantsedag is traditionally on the last Sunday of August. “In the first few parades, it was mainly the farmers who pulled the cart. At that time, the farmers were busy in the fields six days a week. Sunday was their only day off, so Sunday was chosen as the day of the parade and it has always been that way. I hope it stays that way.”
“All groups are building amazing cars these days.”
Over the years, the parade and its popularity grew naturally. The number of neighborhoods, groups of friends and construction clubs grew steadily. The cars also got bigger and better. Jos sprinkles with compliments. “In that period, the Schenkels Circle of Friends played an important role. They built impressive cars before that time. Nowadays all groups build amazing cars. There are no bad cars anymore and the level of the cars is getting higher every year.”
Partly thanks to new techniques, more and more is possible. “No car is the same. I enjoy that and with me the many spectators who come to the parade every year.”
The 64th edition will be on the roll on Sunday. At that thought alone, race-Heezenaar Jos beams. “I’m in the stands with my children and grandchildren this year,” he says. Jos does not have a favorite car or group. “I enjoy everything that passes by. “You cannot explain the feeling of the Brabantsedag. You have to experience it. It enchants every year.”
Omroep Brabant will broadcast the Brabantsedag live next Sunday from half past two in the afternoon.