Traveling Carnival In The Netherlands

The traveling carnival is held for a few days, a week or even longer. In the past, the funfair was one of the few entertainment options. The Tilburg Funfair has grown into the largest fair in the Benelux. In the Netherlands, the oldest funfairs are held in Wijk bij Duurstede; the first mention of a fair there dates from June 26, 1023, the day the Saint Martin’s Church was consecrated. Presumably some time later a fair was also held in Utrecht.

Feria en Holanda

In places with an old funfair tradition, other events also take place around the funfair, such as the Vleiskeuren (= meat inspection) in Huissen on the Thursday prior to the traveling carnival. The local butchers then give the opportunity to taste meat. Originally, Vleiskeuren also aimed at meeting boys and girls, who then went on to celebrate the funfair together. Until the early 1900’s, fairground operators usually got no further than their own province. The roads were too bad for long journeys. Many attractions were transported by horse and carriage. The larger attractions often went by ship, so it still had to be loaded onto carts to reach the fairgrounds.

Kirmes in den Niederlanden

Fun Fair at Grote Market in Haarlem, The Netherlands — Fun Fair at Grote Markt in Haarlem, The Netherlands

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ملاهي في هولندا

There has often been a kind of love-hate relationship between the traveling carnival on the one hand and social organizations on the other. Criticism of fairs consists of drinking too much alcoholic drink, fighting, gambling and otherwise immoral behavior. This also applied to the past: fairgrounds with money in their pockets celebrating after a year of hard work, combined with alcohol consumption, led to licentious and immoral behavior. The criticism also applied to erotic or even downright sexual performances in closed tents, ‘hoochie-coochie-tents’. Certain attractions were also seen as controversial, such as betting and gambling, tormenting games in which animals were treated undignified and the Strong Man. The funfair was seen in particular by the upper bourgeoisie as uncivilized and a source of moral decay.

Ярмарка в Нидерландах

Fête Foraine aux Pays-Bas

Funfairs are organized by the municipalities. This is usually carried out by the official organization, but a specialized agency is also called in for this. Which funfair operators get a stand at a funfair is determined by a so-called “lease”. The organizer will then place an advertisement in the trade journals, stating when a fair will be organized in that place, and that bidding can be held on the pitches until a certain date. The operators aspiring to a pitch then send in their bids, which are kept unopened by the organizer. After the expiry of the bidding period, all these “tenders” will be opened and read at a public hearing. In principle, each stand is assigned (“awarded”) to the highest bidder for that place. Especially since the Second World War, this “public lease” has increasingly supplanted the “closed” (or “private”) lease, where the registrations were not made public and the organizer could allocate the pitches according to his own preferences.