Colors of Groningen - traditions, festivals, mentality and lifestyle

Groningen is a cozy and friendly city, which is often referred to as the "city of festivals” because of a rich choice of interesting festivals that are held there. Indeed, during year here are organized numerous festivals, which are very popular among both locals and tourists.

Flower Festival is most beautiful and famous event held in the city. The festival is organized annually in many cities across the country. For several days the city is transformed into a huge fragrant garden. One can see flowers literally everywhere. Houses, cars and even fences are decorated with exquisite garlands of flowers. Beautiful flowers can be seen in every home. The parade of flowers is considered the main event of the festival. Many travelers intentionally arrive in Groningen from other countries just to enjoy this spectacular show. Huge platforms with figures depicting popular fairy tale characters and mythical creatures drive through all main streets of the city. As it is not hard to guess, these colorful figures are made of flowers.

November 11, the day of St. Martin, and December 6 – the day of St. Nicholas are no less popular holidays. These celebrations are always accompanied by colorful festivals, fairs and street performances. Special food is, without a doubt, an important attribute of holidays. You can try it in numerous outdoor cafes. During the days of celebrations you can easily find noisy processions of mummers who sing songs and light their way with torches. This tradition has appeared many hundred years ago and is still very popular. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

Fans of photography will certainly enjoy Noorderlicht Festival, which continuously attracts numerous interesting exhibitions and presentations. The event is always visited by a great number of photographers from different countries, among which you will easily find both novices and experienced photographers. Winter is the time for Noorderslag festival dedicated to contemporary music.

Theater fans will be interested in visiting Groningen in August, when the city hosts one of the most famous theater festivals in the country. Decorations are installed directly on main squares of Groningen. Most of performances are also held in the open air. This event will be interesting to visit not by adults but also by children as there are special performances organized for young visitors. Such a large choice of festivals and celebrations in Groningen never ceases to attract art lovers from all over the world, because there is simply no better way to appreciate the culture and traditions of the local people.

The first thing that tourists pay attention to when visiting Groningen is the abundance of people on bicycles. As in the rest of the Netherlands, it is the most common form of transport, but here it seems to be more bikes than anywhere else. Due to this fact, Groningen is often called the “World's Cycling Capital". A special feature of local cycling is that people (including small citizens) do it in any weather, despite the fact that the rain brings them no real joy. Locals tolerate everything except disrespect for local laws. There is always something to talk about with them, they won't say a bad word about the interlocutor, nor about the third person, believing that it's not for them to judge any qualities of a certain person.

A few words should be said about the local cuisine - it is simple and hearty at the same time. The favorite local dishes are "donder en hete bliksem" (mashed potatoes with apples), "erwtensoep" (pea soup), "molleboon" (roasted beans), "stip-in-t-gat" (buckwheat), "kniepertie" (waffles) and "groninger anijskoek" (anise cookies). Among alcoholic drinks, it's worth noting beer, and the local drink is called Grunn Bier; it is also worth trying the locally produced gin - Hooghoudt. A unique drink called fladderak is prepared here - it is a gin with the addition of cinnamon, lemon, cloves, and anise. Also, townspeople have long soaked fruit in brandy - this is another feature of their cuisine.

The most important holiday in all the Netherlands is, of course, April 27, when Koningsdag takes place. At this time, besides the main festivities, you can witness noisy afterparties with the participation of some of the most prominent names of the Netherlands - among headliners, there are no performers whose names wouldn't be known even to those who're not really fond of electronic music.

The celebration includes festive parades, and the whole city is painted in orange - the color of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Without fun, the holiday cannot be considered open. In addition, the royal family at this time visits two cities of the country - the first one is the Dutch capital and the second one is any other so that each town can boast of such an event.

June is marked by holding two festivals dedicated to the Middle Ages. The first one takes place at the beginning of the month (sometimes at the end of May) and is called Melodica, and the second one is Rapalje Zomerfolk that is also held in early June but a bit later than the first festival. The Grand Theater serves as the venue for Melodica where the audience is presented with interesting performances of prominent musicians playing in the style of early music from Scandinavian countries, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, and France. By the way, the festival organizers do not set a fixed entry fee. Rapalje Zomerfolk is held in Stadspark, which means that this is a great place to enjoy outdoor recreation and high-quality folk music.

In late June or early July, the central streets of Groningen (namely, Binnenstad-Zuid) are plunged into an extravaganza when the event called Rumbling 'Earth takes place. Here, visitors are entertained by interesting performers who play in completely different genres - from jazz to pop music. Another musical event takes place on Vismarkt at the beginning of the month. This is a time of music and dance, as well as carefree fun infecting everyone who decides to attend the festival. All kinds of dance competitions are held within the framework of the event. Both events are completely free of charge.

Heavy metal fans visit such an interesting event as GRUNN'T at the beginning of April (sometimes at the end of March); Stichting Het Nieuwe Simplon is chosen as the venue. Among its headliners are famous Dutch and Scandinavian bands playing in various metal subgenres. Local people are no strangers to arts. This is confirmed by the Nacht van Kunst & Wetenschap scheduled for early June. An extensive program is prepared for the audience - all so that everyone can fully appreciate the efforts of artists. It includes interactive shows, musical performances, seminars, and an experimental program, and all this at various locations in the city center, so at this time you should follow the billboards of upcoming events.