Leidsch Dagblad
- A festival successful in every respect
- Entry of Goulmy en Baer
- The parade
The front page of the Leidsch Dagblad for 5 October 1926 looked back on Leiden's 3 October festival, which the paper says ran from Saturday afternoon until after midnight on Monday and succeeded without a single discordant note, though a mist on Monday morning may have disappointed some. Further reports describe the 3 October Society's board leading a quiet ceremony at the monument to Boisot, Van der Does and Van Hout, crowds gathering at the Stationsplein for the Royal Band of Eugène Goulmy en Baer from 's-Hertogenbosch, and an open-air play followed by a historical parade that had been assembled on the Krijthof.
Translation
A festival successful in every respect
This issue consists of THREE sheets. FIRST SHEET. A festival successful in every respect. When, on the quiet morning of 5 October, we look back in our minds on the long series of festivities, which in fact lasted from Saturday afternoon until after midnight on Monday, we may note with satisfaction that these festivities, without a single exception, were a brilliant success, and that no discordant notes of any kind disturbed the true festive mood even for a moment. For those who had hoped for a Monday as sunny as Sunday had been, it was perhaps at first a slight disappointment that in the morning a mist hid the sun [?] [?] [?] [?] [?] [?] [?] [?]
Entry of Goulmy en Baer
…at the Plantsoen. After the above-mentioned items had ended, the 3 October board, followed by numerous interested onlookers, went to the monument in memory of the heroes Boisot, Van der Does and Van Hout: a quiet but solemn ceremony, which will undoubtedly not be missing at future celebrations either. Entry of Goulmy en Baer. Towards ten o'clock many people had taken up positions around the Stationsplein in order to witness the "joyeuse entrée" of the Royal Band of the firm Eugène Goulmy en Baer from 's-Hertogenbosch. What popularity this band had managed to win during its visit to the Key City last year was clear enough from the tremendous interest which also…
The parade
The striking poster with a knight figure was likewise the work of Jan de Quack. The director was the actor Nico de Jong. With this we take leave of this part of the 3 October festival, which was followed by the parade, which had been assembled on the Krijthof, so that all the spectators of the open-air play once again had every opportunity to enjoy that wealth of colour, which set off again just as punctually as it had arrived. The parade. At the 3 October Society they have a knack for organising a parade. This was shown once again yesterday, for the umpteenth time, when the historical parade…
Context
Who organised Leiden's 3 October festival?
The page gives the 3 October Society, the 3-October-Vereeniging, credit for much of the programme. Its board led the ceremony at the monument, and the paper says the society 'has a knack' for organising parades. According to the Dutch inventory of intangible heritage, the society was founded in 1886 and has organised the commemoration of the Relief of Leiden ever since, working with the municipality. The present-day association still calls itself volunteer-run and says it has organised the festivities since 1886. By 1926 the society had therefore been running the festival for four decades. That record explains the paper's offhand remark that the parade had succeeded 'for the umpteenth time', and its confidence that the monument ceremony would be repeated at later festivals.
What did the festival commemorate, and where did the herring custom come from?
The festival marks 3 October 1574. The Dutch heritage inventory says that on that day the Beggars of William of Orange drove out the Spanish troops and handed out herring and white bread to the starving townspeople. The paper itself names Boisot, Van der Does and Van Hout as the heroes honoured at the monument where the society's board held its quiet ceremony, but the selected passages do not explain what each man did. The festival custom of handing out herring and bread is later than the siege itself. The inventory records that in 1823 the Minerva student society urged students to fly the flag on 3 October and to hand out herring and white bread. When the 3 October Society was founded in 1886, Minerva was given a place on its board. This tied the student-led custom to the organisation that the paper praised in 1926.
What happened when Jan van Beieren besieged Leiden in 1420?
The siege of Leiden in 1420 was an episode of the Hook and Cod wars. Leiden's burgrave had declared loyalty to Jacoba of Bavaria, the daughter of Count William VI, while her uncle Jan van Beieren successfully claimed the succession. After a siege of two months the city surrendered to Jan van Beieren on 17 August 1420. The selected passages refer to a 'historical parade' and to an open-air play advertised by a poster with a knight figure, but they break off before naming the episode that was staged. These excerpts alone therefore cannot confirm whether the 1926 play and parade took this episode as their theme. If the festival did re-enact Jan van Beieren's entry on 18 August 1420, that entry came the day after the city's surrender. The festival would then have been staging a conquest of Leiden, not a liberation.
Original
Een in alle opzichten geslaagd feest.
Dit nummer bestaat uit DRIE Bladen EERSTE BLAD. Een in alle opzichten geslaagd feest. Wanneer wij op den stillen morgen van 5 October op de lange reeks der feestelijkheden, die feitelijk van Zaterdagmiddag tot Maandag na middernacht, hebben geduurd, in gedachten terugzien, dan mogen wij met voldoening constateeren dat deze feestelijkheden, geen enkele uitgezonderd, schitterend zijn geslaagd en dat geen wanklanken, van welken aard ook, de rechte feeststemming zelfs maar een oogenblik hebben verstoord. Voor hen die op een even zonnigen Maandag hadden gehoopt als de Zondag is geweest, was het eerst misschien een kleine teleurstelling, dat ' s ochtends een nevel de zon verbor - [?] [?] [?] [?] [?] [?] [?] [?]
Intocht Goulmy en Baer.
aan het Plantsoen. Na afloop van bovengenoemde nummers begaf het 3-Octoberbestuur gevolgd door talrijke belangstellenden zich naar het monument ter herinnering van de helden Boisot, Van der Does en Van Hout een stille maar wijdingvolle plechtigheid, die ongetwijfeld bij volgende feestvieringen ook niet zal ontbreken. Intocht Goulmy en Baer. Tegen tienen hadden velen zich in de omgeving van het Stationsplein opgesteld, teneinde getuigen te zijn van de " joyeuse entrée " van het Koninklijk Muziekcorps der firma Eugène Goulmy en Baer uit ' s-Hertogenbosch. Welk een populariteit dit corps zich bij zijn bezoek aan de Sleutelstad het vorige jaar heeft weten te verwerven bleek wel uit de geweldige belangstelling, die ook
De optocht.
Het sprekend affiche met ridderfiguur was eveneens van de hand van Jan de Quack. Regisseur was de acteur Nico de Jong. Hiermee nemen wij afscheid van dit gedeelte van het 3 Octoberfeest, dat werd gevolgd door den optocht, die op het Krijthof werd opgesteld, zoodat alle toeschouwers van het Openluchtspel nog eens alle gelegenheid hadden te genieten van die kleurenweelde, die zich even mooi op tijd als ze gekomen was, weer in beweging zette. De optocht. Bij de 3-October-Vereeniging heeft men er slag van een optocht te organiseeren. Dit is gisteren weer voor de zooveelste maal gebleken toen de historische optocht,
Source: Source: Erfgoed Leiden en Omstreken (leiden.courant.nu)