Mayor organizes Nijmegen international march with hundreds of brass bands

The mayor of Nijmegen, Hubert Brülls, launched a four-day march through the city of Nijmegen on Saturday afternoon with music from hundreds of brass bands. On his 22 stages in the center of Nijmegen, fanfare and marching his band simultaneously performed a specially arranged Celebration of Kool & the Gang. The four-day march continues through Friday. The 105th Four-Day March starts in Nijmegen on Tuesday.

The Nijmegen 4 Day Festival aims to be as diverse and sustainable a festival as possible. So this year’s festival will focus on serving sustainable meals in various locations around the city, and how much emissions the food causes before it’s even sold. This way, visitors can decide for themselves how responsibly they want to eat. Festival director Joris Baumeister said there will also be more space for people with disabilities, with a separate program for young people, the elderly and refugees at Pink Wednesday, the LGBTIQ+ festival on July 19. It says it was added. Pink Wednesday concludes with a pride walk.

Brüls boasts Europe’s largest multi-day festival. But he’s worried about the trash left behind after the revelers have left. Waste company Dar says that in a week he removes more than 300 tons of garbage from the city. The mayor of Nijmegen wants 75 percent of all cups, plates and other materials to be reusable next year. The round cups introduced last year have already been successful, Dahl said. For example, about 58 percent of the cups were completely reused, from which he made 2.4 million new cups.

In addition, Bruls will attend a four-day procession mass at St Stephen’s Church in Nijmegen on Sunday morning. The mayor will lay a wreath on Monday at a war memorial service at Canada Fields of Honor Cemetery in Grosbeek. In this field of honor are buried his 2,619 mostly Canadian soldiers who died in the liberation of the Netherlands during World War II. Canadians and other soldiers who participate in the Forday March hold a ceremony here each year.