Just a week away from the big event, the Brabantse Dag in Heeze on August 27th, float builders are adding the final lick of paint, amateur actors rehearse their street theatre performances one more time, and all sixteen floats builders are keeping their fingers crossed for a good turnout and a prize or two.
EindhovenNews introduced eight groups on Thursday; but there’s more.
‘Vriendenkring Kapelstraat’ draw their inspiration from The Phenakistiscope. Joseph Plateau’s invention marks a vital step in the evolution of motion pictures. ‘Vriendenkring De Rooie Hoek’ appeal to our sense of taste. Pharmacist Neuhaus found that his patients’ aversion to his pills diminished when he dipped them in sweet chocolate. What else can be made palatable with a sweet chocolate coating, they wonder.
Signs and signals
Although the V for victory sign suggests Churchill, a Belgian Cabinet minister invented it. In a radio Belgium broadcast from England, de Lavelye said: “V is the first letter of ‘Victory’ in French and of ‘vrijheid’, ‘freedom’ in Flemish,” and called on the occupied Belgians to chalk the sign on walls as a sign of resistance. Starting from June 27, 1941, the BBC adopted the V-sign. They played the Morse code for the letter V, which matches the first four notes of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. ‘Vriendenkring Van Gaal’ are putting Lavelye in the spotlight. His first name? ‘Victor’.
A much older invention is the mechanised carillon, dating from 1510. ‘Vriendenkring Schenkels’ have crafted That Rings a Bell as a tribute to this invention. This constructive and transformative mechanised carillon comes alive, embodying the spirit of progress. In a literal sense, a bell began to ring during its creation. Eureka!
How far is our reach?
Where we are matters when we want to go somewhere. For a long time, only fragmentary knowledge of the world helped us get our bearings. Abraham Ortelius, a gifted cartographer, had a brilliant idea. He and his team of cartographers combined the exploration maps and added knowledge of their day to compose what ‘Vriendenkring De Oude Ambachten’ call The Theatre of the World – a unified view of the planet.
The surface of the earth only partly tells us where we are. Below the surface of the water is another world, which underwater photography managed to show to earthlings. Jean de Wouters cooperated with marine explorer Jacques Cousteau to develop underwater camera Calypso-Phot. ‘Ge Wit T Oit Noit Nie’ compare the moment a blurry image becomes clear to a Eureka! experience.
Some want to dive down below, others want to shoot into space. ‘Vriendenkring Ietskes Schif’ celebrate the Atlas rocket, invented by Karel Jan Bossart. This breakthrough not only
revolutionised American space travel but also inspired children. Playground installations in the 1960s, featuring the Atlas rocket as a play structure, further fuelled their curiosity and excitement. The Space Trip allowed children to embark on their own imaginary journeys.
The biggest question of all, though, is where we all began. Georges Lemaître, a Belgian priest and scientist, shattered old notions about the origin of everything with his theory. He proposed that an expanding universe must have been smaller in the past, originating from a single particle: the primordial atom. Lemaître embraced both science and faith, stating, “Science is beautiful; it reflects God’s creative thought”. ‘Vriendenkring De Rijten’ depict it thus: The Origin of Everything: Lemaître’s Big Bang Theory
When: 27 August
Where: Heeze
Why: Simply, you mustn’t miss it
To buy tickets
- Children up to 12 years free
- Tickets € 11.50 (online)
- Tickets at the box office on the day: €12.50
- Grandstand seats from €15 each (a separate entrance ticket is required).
Source: BrabantseDag
written for EindhovenNews by Greta
