Greetings from Venlo
Carnival with a Moluccan twist: the unforgettable boerenbruiloft of De Kwante Kaketoe
In our new series 'Greetings from…' we tell remarkable stories about Moluccan art, culture and heritage from all over the world. We kick the series off with the story of the Moluccan carnival association De Kwante Kaketoe from Venlo. The association was given the honour of organising the boerenbruiloft (mock farmers' wedding), a long-standing tradition on the last day of the Venlo carnival. Born and bred in Venlo, Rio Lekatompessy, known as founder and host of the podcast Molukse Takkie, shares everything about their road to the boerenbruiloft. From the beginnings of the association to how Moluccan culture was woven into Venlo's carnival traditions.
The rise of De Kwante Kaketoe De Kwante Kaketoe began ten years ago as a modest Moluccan walking group taking part in the carnival parade in Venlo. Dressed as toy soldiers, with a nod to the past of the first generation of Moluccans in the Netherlands, they set the tone for what would grow into a large association. "In 2022 we were cautiously sounded out about whether we would like to organise the boerenbruiloft," Rio says. "We then held an information evening to gauge interest. After that evening 200 people had already signed up to take part. I immediately thought: this is serious business."
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Photos: Roel Schoonderbeek & Sven Jacobs
The road to the boerenbruiloft In April last year it was officially announced that De Kwante Kaketoe would organise the boerenbruiloft. "An enormous honour, because there are many associations and companies who would love to do it," Rio continues. "We set everything in motion very quickly to become a foundation. Within the foundation everyone was given their own role, putting to use the talents they have in daily life. We grew into a serious organisation. And everyone did the work voluntarily, purely out of love."
A Venlo tradition in Moluccan dress In February of this year the moment came: bride Dénis Ririhatuela and groom Hermi Sahuleka were joined in mock matrimony. "Of course there were Moluccan elements woven into our boerenbruiloft. We had corsages with tropical flowers and the bride wore a headdress made from her grandmother's kebaya (traditional blouse-dresses) from Ambon. The people on the Stadhuisplein cheered us on and waved the lenso putih (white handkerchief)."
Photo: Sven Jacobs
Impact Afterwards, responses poured in from all over the country. "People saw us as an inspiration to accept one another and embrace each other's culture. One of the messages in our inbox read: 'An example for everyone with a dual background. Long live the diversity, the uniqueness and everything else to be found in our beautiful Venlo.' Our message and mission is to connect as a Moluccan community with each other and with our city of Venlo. Responses like these show that we succeeded. Real goosebumps!"
Never going home again As tradition requires, the wedding party wrote its own song: 'Weej gaon nao de broélof' to the melody of the well-known 'Rasa Sayang Keneh'. "The idea of doing this song came up quite quickly. It is of course a wedding song and fits the mood entirely. But how do we do that playfully without making fun of it? Fortunately the Venlo carnival does not produce songs about horns on jet skis or beer and boobs; they are romantic songs, slow songs, songs about going back to the south and about being from Venlo. That gave us direction. We sing 'together dancing, dancing to the town hall', but also 'we are never going home again'. And we are never going home again either. It is a slogan for the party, but it is also what our life is."
Stronger together "I look back on a very special time in which we grew closer to one another again. Association life had really ceased to exist within the Moluccan community in Venlo. With De Kwante Kaketoe and organising the boerenbruiloft, we voiced the longing for community spirit again. That we now have that back does me a great deal of good."
Photo: Sven Jacobs
