Raamberg - Ruthless

Don’t be a coward, be a warrior!

“Heroic, intimidating, barbaric, but most of all ruthless.” These are a few of the words Chiel uses when we ask him to explain the design. “The medieval army will “destroy” Zundert in September with a battering ram, a siege tower and a catapult. We want to create an intimidating atmosphere and with this image we can make that happen.”

The threesome was eager to pull out all the stops with plenty of movement, extras and entertainment. “We weren’t consciously looking for it, but we did consciously push for this design because we wanted to construct something to impress,” says Simon. Bas adds: “It wasn’t our goal, but it is a nice plus.” According to the guys, this is a design the whole neighbourhood can pour its passion in: “It is a float with all the bells and whistles.”

Everyone in the neighbourhood received a flyer in their letterbox. It read ‘CALL TO DUTY’ in a large font. This call for extras was well-received. 80 of the 100 required extras have already reported for duty. “The game is led by the marshal at the top. He will stir up the others to act up and to intimidate,” says Simon. All three designers will walk as extras beside the float.

It did the cousins good not having designed last year. “It enabled us to take plenty of time for everything. We often carried straight on to the next project, but now we could let it simmer and grow,” says Bas. “During the presentation we were able to answer all the questions as well, often saying: BAM, this is what we’re going to do. Period!” Chiel continues. And Bas adds: “If you observe a construction season as an outsider, you can take a more neutral view. Something I found interesting for a change.”

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Chiel Zagers (25) is a technical draftsman and mechanic; Bas van Hassel (26) and Simon van Nijnatten (26) are both project engineers. Bas and Simon return to the hamlet  where they have constructed since they were boys. It is the fifth design for the cousins.

Original Dutch Text: Jonas Gommers
Translation: Bas Booij
Photo: Paul Ranft

Hamlet Raamberg
www.raamberg.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.