As Eindhoven has been liberated on September 18, 1944, by the allied forces, the city commemorates this with a festival on September 20th. It runs from 16.00 – 24.00 and entree is free. It, very appropriately, takes place at the 18 Septemberplein.
There will be various artists, many of them local. Liberation040 starts with a commemoration, after which the party starts, with lots of music.
Some of you know that there are quite a few big liberation parties taking place in the Netherlands, on May 5th, when allied forces ended the occupation of the Netherlands on a national level. However as Eindhoven has been liberated before they have their bigger party in September. British, Canadian, American and Polish forces reached the city from the south and the north to force out the Germans occupiers on September 18. They joined forces to move to the north to continue the liberation, city by city. In the end they got delayed around the big rivers dividing the Netherlands, and only managed to liberate most of the country north of those rivers 8 months later.
There is some footage of this liberation (you may recognise Stratums Eind), as well as the event appeared in some movies or tv-series. You can see that the reality was slightly different then portrayed by Hollywood. During various occasions, especially in 1994, with the 50 years celebration, veterans of aforementioned countries attended and got honored during those commemorations. This year the focus is on music. Next year it will be 75 years since Eindhoven has been liberated, that normally brings a bigger celebration.
For Eindhovennews by Remco
