The whole of Ursem turns out for a grand liberation festival

Dozens of volunteers are ready at three o’clock to welcome the crowd on the grounds of the two primary schools and childcare. Over the past week, a lot of hard work has gone into transforming the schoolyard into a festival site. A large tent, a stage, flags and long tables decorate the square.

For young and old

Soon hundreds of Ursemmers walk across the square. “Ursem celebrates the fifth of May together, as you can see,” says organizer Anita Stam. “We try to be there for young and old, and everything in between.”

And that is visible on the square. “You can do carpentry, crafts and buy sweets here, basically anything,” says a boy cheerfully. A short distance away are the residents of the nursing home. Some have lived through the war. “I’ve been thinking about the war all night. I’ve let everything I’ve been through in the war pass me by. We were too young to understand it properly.”

Volunteers are now busy supervising all activities. “You can craft a butterfly. You can make a heart on a board with nails and then decorate it with wool,” says a volunteer enthusiastically. When asked what motivates her to be here, she says, “connect.”

The village not only attracts residents of Ursem itself, even people from outside the village come to Ursem especially to celebrate Liberation Day. “I’m from Schermerhorn,” says a woman. “But they don’t do anything there. I think it’s important to celebrate May 5, that’s why I’m here.”