Liberation festivals kick off; Reflecting on Ukraine war at 4:55 pm

Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Ambassador for Peace, Duncan Laurence, lit the liberation fire at the Liberation Festival in 's-Hertogenbosch and officially kicked off all 14 Liberation Festivals, NU.nl reports.

The Ambassadors of Peace - Suzan & Freek, Duncan Laurence, Fresku, and Donnie - boarded military helicopters at the Gilze-Rijen airbase. They'll visit and perform at the Liberation Festivals in fourteen cities in the Netherlands.

While celebrating the Netherlands' liberation from the German occupiers and the end of World War II in 1945, Netherlands residents will also reflect on the war currently raging in Ukraine. The fourteen festivals will pause at 4:55 p.m., or five minutes to five, to show solidarity and support to the Ukrainians fleeing from war and violence or fighting for freedom.

On all stages, speakers from Ukraine will give a statement and call for support for the victims of the war. In Almere, Evgeniy Levchenko will speak about the war in his native country. In Zwolle, Lily Pavlova, a young artist, photographer, and drummer from Kyiv, will tell about how she fled their home with her sister and a friend. Volodymyr Bevkh will speak in Den Bosch. He's lived in Eindhoven for 20 years, but his roots are in the Ukrainian city of Lviv.