Molenstraat - YES, NO

Which side are you on?

On the first Sunday of September, you have two choices: tis or tisn’t. This year, the Molenstraat hamlet has set out to polarise Zundert. The designers want to depict an argument, in the simplest sense of the word. Over a beer, the idea quickly took shape among these hands-on builders from Molenstraat. The float consists of the two large words Tis and Tisn’t squaring off fiercely against each other. They’ll ride together in the parade on Corso Sunday, led by the accompanying cast. In principle, the idea is for the whole hamlet, really the whole village, to take part as extras. Only part of the hamlet will be on and around the float itself, the rest will stand along the route or in the stands. That way, the entire audience gets pulled into the float’s argument by the extras moving through the crowd. The two sides are represented by red and yellow, so the polarisation will be visible throughout the whole village. “You could read a kind of political statement into it, although that’s not the message we’re trying to send. What we want to do with the design is get the audience actively involved with the float in a light-hearted, playful way.”

The design captures what every argument really comes down to at its core: yes or no, for or against. The designers searched for the best possible opposition to build around, ideally one that wasn’t too loaded. The emptier the words, the better. “Because you strip it down like that, it doesn’t really mean anything anymore. Any political colour you might attach to it disappears. By choosing these words, anyone, young or old, can identify with it without any baggage attached.” So the heart of the design is really about how fanatically the hamlet can get the rest of the village cheering for their own colour. Red or yellow: which one do you choose?

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Olav den Ridder (45) works as an account manager; this is his fourth design. Robin Schijfs (36) is an exhibition designer and scenographer; this is his tenth design. Gijs Martens (36) is a graphic designer; this is his twelfth design. Yuri Dils (40) is making his sixteenth design. Yuri is a display designer. Jesse Verheijen (35) is a business analyst; this is his tenth design.
Ton van Beek (50) is making his sixteenth design. Ton is an architect. Marcel van de Sanden (53) is designing for the thirteenth time. Marcel is a quality coordinator.

Original Dutch Text: Lieve Bastiaansen
Translation: Saskia Molema
Photo: –

Hamlet Molenstraat
www.buurtschapmolenstraat.nl

This article is brought to you by Corsief. An independent magazine about corsos in general and the Zundert flower parade in particular. The magazine is produced entirely by volunteers, who are all more or less active in the Zundert flower parade world. Corsief is entirely full-colour and appears four times a year.