Around 700 locations for freedom meals are planned for Liberation Day

People who want to speak to others about freedom and living under occupation on May 5 can do so at hundreds of places. Around 700 freedom meal events will be organized on Liberation Day, with 57 of those being in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This was reported by The National Committee for 4 and 5 Mei, the initiator of the shared meal program.

The largest freedom meal event will be in Wageningen, where 790 people can sit on a table 400 meters long on the Generaal Foulkesweg. Other places, like the Lange Voorhout in The Hague, Eusebiuskerk in Arnhem, and the Chassé Theater in Breda, also have space for hundreds of participants.

The border location, Dinxperlo in the Achterhoek, will be the scene of a Dutch-German freedom meal like it was last year. Residents of the Gelderland spot in the municipality of Aalten and the bordering German town of Suderwick in Bocholt meet in Dinxperlo.

TV chef Nadia Zerouali will raise a toast to freedom there, along with the mayor of Aalten and the deputy mayor of Bocholt. The organization is expecting around 500 people at the event, which is 300 more than last year.

There are also freedom meals for children and young people. Children will prepare the so-called freedom soup in the Centrale Markthal in Amsterdam on May 5 and then serve that meal to their parents, brothers, sisters, grandfathers, grandmothers, and other invitees. In The Hague's cultural center, Amare, the freedom meal is especially meant for young people from 12 to 18 years of age.

The idea of the freedom meal is that people eat together while discussing what freedom means to them. The National Committee for 4 and 5 Mei says that participants can meet new people during the meals, get to know each other better and listen to each other's stories.

The number of participants during the meals is increasing. Last year, there were 560 freedom meals, and the year before, there were 430 organized meals. "We try our hardest to increase the number of meals every year," said a spokesperson for the National Committee for 4 and 5 Mei. "We work with civil organizations and very enthusiastic and driven quartermasters throughout the country."

A freedom soup is always on the menu. This year, it is tomato soup with miso and spring onions, a recipe from YouTube chef and TV presenter Nick Toet. The canned soup is distributed in the run-up to Liberation Day.