Celebrating our differences at the Manus van Alles multicultural festival

At the risk of repeating a familiar statement, the Dutch weather is something to take into consideration when making weekend plans: it is often unpredictable and full of surprises. As I set off for the Manus van Alles Festival in the morning of Sunday, June 28, I grabbed the biggest umbrella I could find around the house. I was feeling a bit disappointed at the idea that a grey foggy day might interfere with the many outdoor activities promised on the festival poster.

Twenty-six groups and 327 artists from 19 countries were scheduled to participate in the ninth edition of the event. Although these numbers gave me a first impression of the size of the celebration, it was only when I found myself in the middle of thousands of visitors that I fully understood its magnitude.

As I was to experience first hand, the Manus van Alles (or Jack of All Trades) Festival is synonymous to cultural diversity. Maastricht’s Wittevrouwenveld borough is home to people from many different origins, such as Turks, Russians, Poles, Moroccans, Afghanis, Dutch, Germans and others. It is precisely this abundance of cultures gathered within the same urban unit that gave main organizer Roger Heuts, owner of a store on Frankenstraat, the idea to bring people together in an event aiming at celebrating maybe the only thing that all inhabitants had in common: being different.

“Roger wanted to do something for the neighborhood”, explained Mat, one of the volunteers who helped organize the festival. His friend Peter, also a volunteer, added: “This used to be a festival for the neighborhood. Now, it’s more than this. For this edition, between 12,000 to 15,000 people have come from Limburg, Belgium, Germany and even the United Kingdom.”

By the time I arrived at the festival, the sky had cleared up and the sun was shining. Stalls along the streets were selling all sorts of items, from clothes to jewellery, shoes, books, CDs, pictures, postcards and paintings, and I suddenly had a déjà vu experience, remembering Queen’s Day flea market in Maastricht.

Traditional songs and dances from the Arowak Indian tribe in Suriname, performed by Wajonong

Apart from stalls or improvised selling points, there were also a few spots where some organizations were trying to gain visibility. One example was the Kunindi association, founded by a young Dutch woman, Moniek, who travels to Gambia about three times a year. Her goal is to gather money to help children in Gambia to go to school and learn a skill that will be useful to them later in life. Sanne, who was in charge of the Kunindi association corner, explained : “Moniek normally goes to a lot of markets like this one, both in Belgium and the Netherlands but I think it’s the first time that Moniek is taking part in this festival. I happen to live in this neighborhood and I knew about Manus van Alles, so that’s why we’re here today.”

Strolling along the busy streets, I saw another organization, namely the Dutch social-liberal party Democraten 66 or D66. Cees van der Sande, representing D66, explained why they were there: “We want to be in the streets and talk to people, and our goal is to make people think”. And think I did, since I had a lengthy conversation about whether the production of marijuana should or should not be legalized in the Netherlands. A hot topic, and undoubtedly controversial, which in Maastricht has been at the centre of public attention for some time now, because of Mayor Gerd Leers’ initiative to move coffeeshops from the city center closer to the country’s borders.

D66 representative Van der Sander said the Maastricht party branch had selected the environment of the festival especially because of its multicultural character, as they thought it would be a good barometer of what individuals belonging to different cultures thought about such a sensitive topic as soft drugs.

But it was neither the time nor the place for me to get too political, and so I started following the music, and this is how I came to see the remarkable performance of Piroschka Triska and the Tabor Gruppe. Originally from Germany, with a Swiss grandfather, Piroschka Triska is a beautiful singer, dancer and text writer of international gypsy music. The mix between the open air, the sense of freedom inherent to a comfortable Sunday afternoon and the overall ambiance of the festival seemed to make my senses particularly receptive, and my musical conscience started vibrating as I listened to Piroshka’s songs and watched the group’s traditional dances.

After buying a pretty scarf, my attention was drawn by a gathering around two large tents. People were gently waiting on line to buy Turkish specialties prepared by a few women sitting inside the tent. Others were watching the women as they were cooking and I understood their fascination after tasting my own piece of spinach pie or Gözleme. Sahure Seymen, the cheerful woman who was selling them, told me that it was her first time at the festival, but that she had heard that Turkish specialties had been a great success last year as well.

Sharing culture through food is happening at events all around the world, whether it is with pupils in the UK, or farmers in Lebanon. The reason behind the popularity of this form of social interaction is the message of hospitality and fellowship that it conveys.

As I made my way inside the tent, I was expecting to bump into Turkish women, but I actually met a group of women from Morocco. One of them, Mariama, tried to tell me, in the little Dutch that she could speak, and the little Dutch that I could understand, that she came to the Netherlands because her husband is Dutch. Mariama’s Moroccan stand was a few steps away, but it was obvious that she enjoyed being in the Turkish tent.

Maluku (Indonesia) music by Lagu Lagu band SAN

Another participant promoting her culture at the Manus van Alles Festival was Agata, born in Poland, who moved to the Netherlands a couple of years ago. “Holland is like a second home to me”, she said. “I was invited here today by some friends who live in this neighborhood and I collected some promotional materials for Poland, since this is like a nationality fair.” Listening to her, I could see that she was positively impressed by the many cultures coming together at the event.

The colorful crowd gave me the same feeling that the entire manifestation was in fact a celebration of diversity, for people of all backgrounds and all ages.

Indeed, children had not been forgotten either, and could get their faces painted, take short camel rides, and even try their hand at various musical instruments or ride on mini car circuits.

Exotic rhythms animated the manifestation, and one of the artistic moments that I most enjoyed was a performance by a Nepalese dancing group, made up of two boys and two girls in their teens. Iyotin, Shailesh, Iyoti and Sanchita looked very young and exotic and wore extremely colorful costumes. “I have been here for two years now, but my mom and dad came here five years ago, explained Lyotin. “I came to do my studies, I’m studying languages.” I wondered how difficult it was to keep one’s own culture while having to change lifestyles. “We keep our traditions,” he replied. “We know Nepalese families with whom we get together, and sometimes we go and dance at festivals, just like this one.”

Imanzi Heart, traditional warrior’s dance from Rwanda

It was Iyotin who made me understand the very essence of this event. Maybe some of the visitors had come out of curiosity or because they wanted to spend their Sunday in an exotic atmosphere, but to me, the Manus van Alles Festival carries a much more powerful meaning. It is an event that brings together people who come from far away countries, from extremely different cultures and diverse social backgrounds. Taken to another level, this festival is perhaps one of the best examples of globalization that can be found in the streets of Maastricht. When else can we find Turkish food, gypsy music, camels and Indonesian desserts in a street with two “Frituur” shops?

As I was walking back towards my bike, I thought that this year’s celebration had been a great success, both for myself as a participant and for the organizers. I enjoyed the opportunity to contemplate Maastricht from another angle and see its multicultural side, and I felt welcome among all the other nationalities. Earlier that day, Piroschka had pronounced some words that perhaps identified the reason why so many foreigners like herself had settled down in the Netherlands: “We love the Dutch people because they have a good heart”. I too am happy each time I notice that I’m not the only expat to feel welcome in Maastricht.

By Catalina Goanta

Catalina Goanta, a Master Student from Romania at the Law faculty in Maastricht, is fascinated by the biorhythm of Maastricht.

A breakdance act by Marcel Janssen