Not much culture in Wageningen? Not true! This regular column puts WUR’s many creatives in the limelight. This time it’s the Through The Window Party at Heerenstraat 10 during the Liberation Day Festival.
It is a longstanding tradition at No. 10, one of the Ceres student houses. Each year during the Liberation Day Festival on 5 May, a party is hosted through the windows of the first floor. The windows are opened, the amplifiers turned outwards and the party starts on the street. When asked, residents Gijs Berkenbosch (22) and Sil Sluiters (23) are unable to say how long their house has been organizing this event. ‘Definitely more than 10 years, could be even longer,’ says Gijs. ‘We wanted to have our own party after all the 5 May parties had ended.’
In the past, No. 10 used wristbands to let people party inside, say the residents. They sold alcohol too, but you can’t just do that anymore. ‘So now we open the window and two of our lads play the music through the window.’ According to the two students, the DJs will play techno-style music with the occasional party number. ‘One of them is still learning the trade; he plays records all day in his room and is getting better at it,’ says Gijs.
Even though No. 10 no longer sells alcohol, the 5 May parties are still broken up by the police every year. ‘It got really big two years ago,’ says Sil. ‘The whole town turned up, and we had about 300 people on our doorstep.’ Last year, the police stopped the party only an hour after it had got going. This year, No. 10 plans to start a bit earlier in the hope of being able to continue for longer. ‘We don’t want the police seizing our equipment,’ says Gijs. ‘So if they turn up, we’ll stop.’
SUN
05/05/2024
Heerenstraat 10
From about 20:00
