The Aalten Volksfeest is an event that many residents of Aalten look forward to every year. Nowadays, it is celebrated during the third weekend of September. In earlier years, it was also celebrated on other dates. The folk festival is also often referred to as the ‘kermis’ (fair). However, the actual fair, meaning the attractions, is nowadays called the ‘lunapark’.
For many decades, the king shooting and the fair were held on the grounds near the ‘Festival Hall’ / ‘De Pol’. Nowadays, however, these activities take place in the center, primarily on the Markt and the Hoge Blik.1
The oldest mention of the fair in Aalten dates back to 1835. That year, the ‘Geldersche Volks-almanak’ mentioned that the fair in Aalten would take place on October 19. 2
In the ‘Eleventh report on the state and activities of the Dutch association for the abolition of strong drink’, published in 1855, it is written: “the fair in Aalten is insignificant, mostly children’s joy”.3
Volksfeest 1876 – silver medal
Medals are often a material reminder of an event in the past. This also applies to the small medal depicted here:
The medal consists of a silver plate with a diameter of 22 mm, to which an eyelet has been soldered. The front is engraved with the text: AALTENS VOLKSFEEST, with a ribbon surrounded by a border of stripes. On the reverse is the date 16 Aug 1876, within a border of small lines and stripes. The edge of the medal is serrated; the plate is presumably a ground-down coin. It is striking that the engraving was carried out quite amateurishly.
Regarding the occasion for the folk festival, the Zutphensche Courant of August 12, 1876, reports: the opening of the Telegraph Office in Aalten. The precise reason for the production of the medal is unknown; it may have been awarded as a prize during the star shooting. 4
Stichting Volksfeest Aalten
In September 1973, a ‘Volksfeest Committee’ was established, created by the merger of the ‘Festival Hall’, the Schuttersvereniging (Marksmen’s Association), and the Fair Committee. Later, this became the ‘Stichting Volksfeest Aalten’. Ten years later, Wout Delleman (1927), Jan Willem Bilderbeek (1920), and Johan Diederik Beskers (1918) appeared before notary Obbink for the establishment of Stichting Volksfeest Aalten (SVA).
The core activities of Stichting Volksfeest have hardly changed in 50 years. Long before SVA was established, a festival, then called a fair, was organized every year. Children’s games, a lantern parade, king shooting, and the Allegorical parade are traditionally part of the ‘festival for everyone’. The locations have changed several times, and the Volksfeest has also moved from June to the third weekend of September.
Previously, the Volksfeest was held from Thursday to Saturday. Since 2014, Sunday has been added to the program with Frühshoppen.
King Shooting
A traditional part of the folk festival is the king shooting or bird shooting. King shooting is an old custom found in large parts of Europe. King shooting originates from the schuttersfeest, the annual festive folk entertainment of the local marksmen’s guild.
The tradition of king shooting has been known in Aalten since well into the last century. In addition to king shooting, Aalten also had ‘fladder’ and target shooting, and bird clubbing for ladies. Furthermore, at the beginning of the last century, one could also participate in ring tilting on horseback or bicycle.
The winners of the shooting competitions on Friday may call themselves king, queen, and youth king/queen of Aalten for a year. The following day, they are driven around in a carriage or cabriolet during the allegorical parade to greet the public. This is followed by the tribute to the flag by the flag wavers of St. Helena on the Markt.
Newspaper reports
(click to enlarge) 5
Sources
- volksfeest-aalten.nl ↩︎
- Geldersche Volks-almanak, 1835 ↩︎
- Ned. ver. tot afschaffing van sterken drank, 1855 ↩︎
- Photo and information submitted by H. Groenendijk ↩︎
- Delpher ↩︎