Culture

On the left is a cutting from the local paper. There's a cycle tour this Sunday organised by the local Jazz club.

It says: "As is traditional, the new Jazzclub-Assen season will open with a cycle tour of four venues in Drenthe..."

Note that this is traditional. Normal. It's what is always done. Normal means cycling. There are an awful lot of events which just happen to also include a bike ride.

We took part in a "cultural cycle tour" a few weeks back. Unlike the Jazz tour, which is spontaneous, this was organised by the council as a promotional event. It involved riding a 30 km route, at a leisurely pace, and stopping regularly to listen to music, watch plays, a bit of tai-chi (Assen-Groningen's "theme" this year has been "Go China", so there have been a lot of Chinese influences in cultural events). Very amusing. I made a short video of the tour - including the bit where some people we'd been idly following led us off the correct route and through a wood...

There are some large events in Assen tomorrow. Not cycling events, but more cultural and music events. Live music from mid-day until midnight. Special effort will have to be made to provide enough cycle parking for the many visitors.