Dordrecht symbolically ready for the storm season

The sandbags are ready, the cupboards are stocked and the flood barriers are being checked. Dordrecht is ready for the storm season, and the city celebrated that on Saturday 26 September during Festival Voor de Vloed. After a festive parade through the old town, mayor Nanning Mol and deputy dike warden Cicilia Rijsdijk officially declared Dordrecht storm-ready. For the rest of the day the city centre was full of street theatre, music, art and people meeting one another.

This is the fourth edition of Festival Voor de Vloed. From 19 to 30 September Dordrecht makes its final preparations for the storm season. Flood barriers are checked, sandbags are ready and residents are encouraged to think about their own preparations at home. The festival wants to turn that yearly moment into a shared tradition: an occasion for the city to consider both what has been arranged and what we can do together when the water comes.

The festival heart on Het Hof and in the Kloostertuin was the centre of a wide programme for young and old.

Water safety in the middle of the city

Children and adults joined in activities, street theatre played out among the audience, and music, art and encounters brought visitors together. Throughout, the same question kept returning: what can you do yourself when the water rises, and what can you do together?

At the Veiligheidsplein visitors could meet the organisations that work on water safety and emergency response. Elsewhere in the city the theme turned up in unexpected places. Beavers hauled sandbags through the streets, the Silent Noodshow had visitors carry out tasks to bring themselves and others to safety, and Alive and Cooking asked what you can actually cook using only the contents of an emergency kit. There was also the cargo-bike opera Natte Voeten, an emergency-kit treasure hunt, music and several art installations.

That mix is what characterises Festival Voor de Vloed: not just explaining water safety, but letting visitors look, take part, experience and meet. Just as you get your home and supplies in order for the storm season, preparation is also about the people around you. Knowing what to do, knowing your neighbourhood and knowing who to turn to when services fail are just as important.

A symbolic start to the storm season

A special moment took place during Saturday's programme. Mayor Nanning Mol and Cicilia Rijsdijk, deputy dike warden and water safety executive of Waterschap Hollandse Delta, declared Dordrecht symbolically ready for the storm season.

The moment underlined what Festival Voor de Vloed is about: living with water asks for preparation and cooperation. Dikes, flood defences, barriers and sandbags are part of it, but so are residents who know what they can do themselves and can find each other when needed.

Among those present at the official moment were Angela de Ruiter, director of the Zuid-Holland Zuid safety region, and Jaap Huisman of Ondernemersfonds Dordrecht.

Made possible together

The day was only possible thanks to the many partners, makers and volunteers involved in Festival Voor de Vloed. From the organisations at the Veiligheidsplein and the venues that opened their doors to performers, artists, supporting partners and volunteers in front of and behind the scenes: everyone contributed to a day on which Dordrecht showed how closely the city is tied to the water.

That broad cooperation is an essential part of the festival. Festival Voor de Vloed is made possible by partners who each contribute in their own way to a safe, lively and resilient Dordrecht. It is exactly that cooperation the festival wants to encourage among residents: knowing each other, looking out for one another and knowing who you can help or ask for help when something happens. Because being prepared is not something you do alone, but together.

Towards 1 October

Festival Voor de Vloed runs until 30 September and works towards 1 October, the start of the storm season. The art route through the old town can be visited until 30 September. On that final day the flood barriers in the city centre are tested as well.

That is where everything the festival stands for comes together: the city gets ready for the water and at the same time celebrates that this preparation is taken up together, year after year.

Photo: Rosa Quist