DAY OF...

PINK WEDNESDAY

‘We love the atmosphere’

In photo: Manon de Hingh and Natasha Dijkhuis

For Manon de Hingh and Natasha Dijkhuis, Pink Wednesday is all about freedom. ‘Seeing all that pink gives us a warm feeling of togetherness. Military participants wearing pink sunglasses, police officers with pink sequins, walkers and spectators all dressed up in pink.’ Partly on the back of the efforts of Stichting Roze Woensdag (the Pink Wednesday Foundation), what started as a small initiative by several hospitality businesses on Van Welderenstraat has grown into the pink extravaganza that it is today. ‘We remember it like it was yesterday, the day in 2004 when we walked along the clinker-paved Van Welderenstraat for the first time. It was extremely crowded, everyone had ground to a halt, with waiters crossing the street holding trays full of beers and the clock ticking. The pressure of time was stressful: we wanted to get to the finish before the cut-off time. It’s a good thing for walkers that the route has now been changed.’ On Pink Wednesday, being part of a minority that is so embraced by everyone really makes you feel special. ‘When we walk that final stretch holding hands, everybody cheers us on!’

Natasha Dijkhuis and Manon de Hingh

Natasha Dijkhuis (52), civil servant, and Manon de Hingh (52), physician assistant, live together in Nijmegen, at just a stone’s throw from start and finish location De Wedren. After initially walking the 4Days Marches as friends, they have meanwhile been walking as a couple for years now. For both of them, walking is all about catching up, relaxing, feeling the wind in their hair, spending quality time together, and being free.

Join Natasha and Manon as they take you on a tour of the highlights of Pink Wednesday: Wijchen, Beuningen and Weurt.

1. Weezenhof balloon arch

Manon and Natasha experience Pink Wednesday as a day of togetherness, solidarity and respect. If there is one place that exudes these values, it is a spot right after the Hatertsebrug bridge in Nijmegen’s Weezenhof neighbourhood. ‘That’s where you’ll find a huge balloon arch, erected by Weezenhof residents,’ says Natasha. ‘It’s just fantastic that people take the trouble to put up this kind of arch in the middle of the night. Walkers cheer as they pass through it, and it also makes for a popular photo opportunity. And do you know what the fun thing is? The arch is there again on Friday, but then in green and orange.’

2. Brass band in Alverna

After crossing the Hatertsebrug bridge, you walk through the Weezenhof area in the Dukenburg district and leave Nijmegen. You walk past Diervoort and then, with the edge of the woodland on your left, onwards to Alverna. Manon: ‘When you get there, they’ve already got the party started. Make sure you stop at the brass band playing on top of a special bridge made entirely of scaffold tubes. The oompah band plays from early in the morning until the very last walker has passed.’

‘Seeing all that pink gives us a warm feeling of togetherness.’

3. Welcome to Wijchen

Wijchen never ceases to remind Natasha and Manon of the very first time they walked the 4Days Marches: ‘We passed the sign saying “Welcome to Wijchen” and soon after passed the “Goodbye, thank you for visiting” sign. That was nice, we thought, and now on to Beuningen. But no, a short while later we walked right back into Wijchen, and left the town again, only to find ourselves walking back in again. We did that a total of five times. The very first time, we were stood still on the square in Wijchen where the 30km and 40km routes converge. Luckily, Wijchen keeps scaling up the party atmosphere every year and now we jump along from left to right to the tunes of Dutch party act Snollebollekes. What’s great is that Wijchen has now synced the music so that you hear the same music wherever you are in the town.’

4. Henny Sackers Boulevard, Beuningen

During the 4Days Marches, part of one of Beuningen’s main streets, Burgeemeester Geradtslaan, is renamed Henny Sackers Boulevard. The people of Beuningen are very proud of that.

‘When we walk that final stretch holding hands, everybody cheers us on!’

5. Waterkwartier neighbourhood

On Pink Wednesday, the ladies make sure they are at the start on time to be able to get going right away. ‘We don’t just want to enjoy ourselves along the way, we also want to make it to Nijmegen’s Waterkwartier neighbourhood in good time to cheer on some of our fellow walkers at our friends’ place there. They’re always dressed up exuberantly and we also get dressed up there for the final part of the route. We just love the atmosphere along that final stretch up to the finish line.’ The flags of all countries over the streets, the ice lollies that are handed out, and the Mannenpap brewery, where people with poor job prospects work, are just some of Manon’s and Natasha’s highlights of the passage through the Waterkwartier neighbourhood.

Tips for a perfect Pink Wednesday

Manon and Natasha are happy to share a few tips to help you make the most of Pink Wednesday, and to hold on to that Pink Wednesday feeling for as long as possible.

  • Walk with your head into the wind and an open mind to take in as much of what is going on around you as possible.
  • Appreciate all those spectators who are handing out little cucumbers or liquorice from early in the morning.
  • Try not to rush. If someone is in your way, don’t think, ‘Get out of my way, I want to pass!’ but try giving them a high five instead.
  • Hold on to that feeling of togetherness you get during the 4Days Marches and spread it for the rest of the year as well.