Good news is not news, it is said. Well, we think so! Read here the weekly overview of the sweetest, nicest, most hopeful and funniest news from Groningen and Drenthe. With matching songs and links to even more good news.
Lex from Annen invents the Drunk Goat and now travels the world
Humor, it’s so simple sometimes. The art is that you just have to come up with it. Lex Veltink from Annen saw a generously foamy beer and came up with the Drunk Goat. A success on holidays and now also on TikTok. “Say waiter, do you know the drunken goat?” Answer: ,,No.” And then Lex sticks his chin in the beer glass, comes out with a goatee of beer foam and shouts: ,,Meh! Hilarity galore. The videos on TikTok have been viewed tens of millions of times. And that does not go unpunished. Lex and his friends are now invited by The Baby Goat House in Hamburg. If they do the Drunk Goat there, they can drink for free for an evening. So off to Hamburg for beeh, beeh beeh… beer!
These camping guests take matters into their own hands and take over Meerzicht
For years you have had a nice spot and a great accommodation at camping Meerzicht on the Leekstermeer. Then all of a sudden disaster strikes you. Park giant Europarcs wants to buy up the entire bups, sweep the houses aside and erect new holiday villas. The holidaymakers at Meerzicht, some of whom have been there for a long time, protested against this doomsday scenario. Together, the camping guests subsequently managed to acquire ownership of Meerzicht. From guest to boss, quite a step, but they like it so far. Work is underway to improve and even expand the campsite. In this way, Meerzicht really becomes a dream park, without the involvement of a large commercial player. An impressive example of self-determination.
Mooi Wark’s men rescue Siepelrock and bring the festival to Grolloo
An Aerius calculation for nitrogen and a quick scan of nature protection legislation. And there are still more obligations to fulfill. As a benevolent organizer of a festival, you would be discouraged in advance. Not the men of the Drenthe farm rock band Mooi Wark. They have breathed new life into the Siepelrock festival, which was celebrated in Pesse until a few years ago. The festival will be continued in Grolloo at the beginning of October. After all, they already have experience with the International Holland Blues Festival there. You won’t really hear blues on Siepelrock, but you will hear a lot of other music. The festival has been saved unlike many others and that is… Beautiful Wark.
These eleven residents of Delfzijl share one million euros
It’s a weekly hit at the moment. Again it’s price. In Delfzijl this time. Last weekend, the National Postcode Lottery made 11 residents around the Burgemeester Buiskoolplein in the port city happy with a great prize. Together they can divide a million euros. There are more annoying chores imaginable.
Lina and Patrick season Winschoten’s kitchen with Filipino food
Chinese bami, a Vietnamese spring roll, sushi from Japan or an Italian or Turkish pizza. You can pick up these dishes or have them delivered in any medium-sized town. In Winschoten, a new flavor is added in the culinary field. Lina Gabbaoan and Patrick Abels are starting a Filipino restaurant there. Filipino Lina reveals that her home country’s cuisine is a melting pot of Malaysian, Chinese, Spanish and American influences. So there is more to taste. Nevertheless, we predict that in the Molenstad also fries with and a croquette will still be sold well.
Eva from Grolloo builds the largest flute in the world
Back to Grolloo. Back to festivals. Eva Kingma is the driving force behind Flute Sessions, the festival for flautists and their instrument. For such an event you need something to attract attention and Kingma understands that very well. She built the world’s largest transverse flute: a five meter (!) high double contrabass flute. An impressively large instrument, but quite difficult to take on a train. You can play on it. Yes. When Kingma blows on it you can almost feel the sound waves going through space. That will be something this weekend in the church of Grolloo. If the roof doesn’t come off….
This football club Assen returns to the fields
Back on the football field and in the competition: the Moluccan football club FC Amboina from Assen. Three years ago, the club had to stop due to corona and a lack of members. Two teams were housed with good neighbor LTC. The wish to be able to play football again as Amboina remained. The association now has more than the required fifty members. Three senior teams are registered with the football association. And a futsal team is also coming. That’s new at Amboina. The teams will start in the reserve class 4, but the club has already set its sights higher. FC Amboina is back and there are ambitions. That’s already scored twice!
The North Netherlands Orchestra steals the show at Lowlands
Now added to the list of most impressive performances at Lowlands: the show that the North Netherlands Orchestra gave in the Alpha tent in Biddinghuizen. It was a postponed party, because last year the NNO was canceled at the very last minute for a sound check by Stromae. The orchestra has taken musical revenge. Under the direction of conductor Eivind Gullberg Jensen, the orchestra thrilled the audience with Beethoven’s ninth symphony, the European anthem. There was cheering, hosting and jumping. The NNO achieved an audience participation that a little rock band can only dream of. The NNE came, saw and conquered. Or, to quote Beethoven and Schiller: Alle Menschen were Brüder.
What’s your good news? Do you see a tweet or an Instagram post with fun or remarkable news? Let us know at [email protected] stating good news and you will read it – with a bit of luck – not much later in this column.
The next issue of this section will appear on Friday 8 September.
Want to read more about the good news?
Would you like to read more about the posts in this section? click on one of the links below: