Huge crowds expected at Liberation Day

Some 750,000 people are expected to attend Liberation Day ceremonies and festivals as the Netherlands celebrates the end of World War II.


Prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende will kick off the celebrations in Zwolle where local artists have built a 135-meter ‘freedom bridge’, reports the Telegraaf.
The official theme of this year’s events is freedom and identity.
Nationwide there are 13 official free festivals, featuring around 250 different acts, the Telegraaf states.
There will be little in the way of celebrations in Apeldoorn, where there was an attack on the royal motorcade during the Queen’s Day celebrations last week. This is because Apeldoorn traditionally celebrates its liberation on April 17 rather than May 5.
Queen Beatrix will attend the traditional Liberation Day concert on the Amstel river on Tuesday evening. The programme has been slightly altered to reflect the more somber mood following the Apeldoorn attacks. Instead of Malambo by Argentine composer Ginastera, which was seen as ‘too outgoing’, the orchestra will play George Gershwin’s Walking the Dog, Trouw reports.

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