Photo LEEFfestival On Sunday 7 July, Wageningen town centre will turn into one big street festival with music, acrobatics, painting and more. René van Geneijgen, in daily life an employee working in the Unifarm tomato greenhouses, spends his free time helping to organize the festival.
Van Geneijgen first went to the LEEFfestival in 2008. ‘I came across it by chance. My son was three at the time and he was allowed to help make the sand sculptures. It turned out the organization did not have enough people and they asked me if I was interested. Well, I was happy to help out with such a great festival. And I’ve stayed on.’
The festival features dozens of acts — see leeffestival.nl for their names — but Van Geneijgen mainly organizes the street games. ‘Such as the giant version of the traditional Dutch board game ‘goose’, Colonists van Catan and Mastermind. We also have a liquorice string race where you tie a long string of liquorice to a little boat that you then get to sail across the water to you by eating the liquorice up very quickly.’
Van Geneijgen still enjoys helping out with the festival but the team is looking for fresh blood. ‘Everyone is always really enthusiastic. The relaxed atmosphere is what makes the festival.’ The LEEFfestival is free and is aimed at everyone. ‘The idea is to expect the unexpected and to have fun together. We want people to have a good time and come into contact with one another. I think we manage that pretty well.’
LEEFfestival
Sunday 7 July 2024
From 13:00 – 17:00 hrs
Wageningen town centre (mainly the Markt and Hoogstraat)
Free admission
