Hi everybody, I felt the need to write a few things after I received many messages and comments regarding my recent post about the lovely evening at the Noordelicht cafe.
One thing is certain, being uninformed and being wrong is not the same thing. In this case I was just uninformed regarding some facts, and my post was just a personal review and my personal experience that was posted on my personal blog. On this personal blog I share different things mostly about the interesting places I visit and sometimes I also share my thoughts and views on life. Everyone who finds it interesting is welcome to read it. If someone doesn’t like my writing style then they can just pass on, and go to read whatever they like to read. We all like and dislike people and stuff around us every day. We all have our own preferences, and this is totally understandable. The one thing I don’t understand is why some people are driven by the need to judge others so easily.
I believe that true happiness in general lies in acceptance. And this is the most important message of this post. Acceptance can also mean to accept ourselves and our own mistakes, and to do our best to become better people every day. And this is something I am trying to do. Here is my today’s story.
I went with my boyfriend to the Noordelicht cafe to watch the 300 drones light show above IJ river in Amsterdam at 12 of August 2018. The show was magical and I enjoyed it very much even though it didn’t last long. The drones were just about 10 minutes in the air, but it was worth waiting.
We arrived around 20:00. It was our first time there. The place was full of happy and smiling colorful dressed people, everybody was dancing and having a good time. I liked that place and I liked the atmosphere very much. It looked like a shimmering wonderland to me. I did not have a clue that there was an event going on at the same day and at the same place. There was not any sign anywhere so I couldn’t possibly know about that event.
As I mentioned, I had never been at that place before, so I believed that these people were regular patrons and that this was a regular every day atmosphere there.
The truth was that I really liked the place and I had a great time. The food we ate was delicious, the music was loud, and I like it loud. My boyfriend said that this place seemed like some kind of hippie community. He was partly right, most of the people were dressed like hippies indeed. They reminded me of the flower children of San Francisco during the ”Summer of Love”. I didn’t really mind how people were dressed. I never do in general. I love every way of creative expression especially when it comes to clothing style. The creative expression is a big part of my life, so it was kind of a familiar environment for me.
We really did not had a clue about the Burning Man community Netherlands and that this was their event going on that day.
If you never heard of it either, I will explain everything in this blog post. Well, there is one big and famous festival that is going on from 1986, every year and it is held in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, United States. The name of the festival is Burning Man. It is named that way after the fact that the event always ends with the burning of a Wicker Man statue. The visitors of the festival call themselves Burners.
Every year they build a temporary community town where everyone who can afford the entrance fee is welcome, regardless of race or origin, and where everyone can express themselves in what they are best at.
Participants are expected to be self-sufficient in their needs such as food, water and a place to sleep. People are encouraged to form a community. Gifting, or give, is part of this. So you don’t need a wallet or money when you go to this festival.
I knew about this festival and I have seen many documentaries about it. Something I didn’t know is that there is also a Burning Man Netherlands community.
Actually in 2016, the Netherlands became the first country outside the United States to receive an official status from Burning Man. Since 2016, the summer event Where The Sheep Sleep is organized annually by the Burning Man Netherlands Community.
Besides the summer festival, during the year they also organize a lot of events at different venues. The night that we visited Noordelicht cafe, it was actually an event going on called ”BabyBurn – a picnic with the poets”. Many of community members from all over the Netherlands joined that event.
The event concept was a picnic and barbecue at the gardens of the Noorderlicht cafe by the river. They also had a nice red old-timer bus that was actually a stage where about 20 poets from the Netherlands and Belgium were recited their poems. We saw that bus leaving, while we were approaching the place. I took a picture of the bus. It looked so cool. Here it is.
Probably the event was already over when we arrived around 20:00, but most of the people from the community stayed to watch the 300 drones light show by the river and continued the party.
I did not knew back then all of those facts so I did not mentioned them in my blog post about the Noorderlicht cafe. I didn’t even know that this community existed.
So this is my only way to make a correction of my previous blog post and to make up for the Burning Man Netherlands community members who might be upset and disappointed with me for not mentioned them as event organizers in my blog post. Because they were actually responsible for all those good vibes I felt that night at the Noorderlicht cafe.
Since the blog post about Noorderlicht cafe was published many days ago, and so many people already read it, there is no point of changing and editing the entire post now. The only thing I can do to make it up is to update with this new post about the Burning Man Netherlands, and their fabulous event called ”BabyBurn – a picnic with the poets”. I am so glad that I attended this event, even though I did know what it was all about.
I admire very much everything they are doing and everything they have accomplished so far. I am so happy that they got in touch with me and informed me about the community. I am delighted I met some very interesting people thanks to my post. I will keep in touch with the community members and I’m looking forward to attend one of their upcoming events.
Best regards and appreciation for: Robin, Alejandra, Manon and Amy. Next time at least I will know what is this all about so there will be no misunderstanding. I like you guys, keep it up with the great work you are doing! Hope to see you soon again.
Embrace yourself, embrace the world 