Today we celebrate Freedom!  Come to Speeltuin Westerkwartier for a children's flea market where children learn about acting and hear stories about freedom and how important freedom is.

On 5 May, the whole of the Netherlands turns festively red-white-blue and orange. On this date, the theme "Freedom" is central throughout the Netherlands. We celebrate the liberation of the Netherlands and the end of the Second World War in 1945. 

On 5 May the Leiden Migrants Support Office will organise two activities: 
1- Children's freemarket
In the "Westerkwartier" playground there will be a children's flea market. This flea market for children is a tradition on Liberation Day. It teaches children how to handle money, assess the value of goods and money, negotiate, recycle, give away, play and reuse! Some children perform or organise games at the free market. 
Note: Would you like to participate in the children's free market? Please reserve a table first! More information on how to book can be found at the end of the page.

2- Freedom Story :

If you ask the Dutch what they like about their country and what they are proud of, they will remarkably often mention "freedom"!
When you ask a migrant or refugee why they have made a hellish, life-threatening journey to Europe with a lot of fear and uncertainty, they often mention "safety and freedom".

By reading a story, we want to talk to our children about freedom in connectedness and then ask questions about self-responsibility and the opposite concepts of freedom and connectedness, dependence and independence. The story is about Rashid and his family who have to flee their country Iran. Using false passports, they take a plane to Indonesia. From there, together with a large group of other refugees, they try to cross the ocean in a rickety boat to Australia. 

The story is read by Maartje van der Woude, professor of Sociology of Law at the Faculty of Law of Leiden University. 

3- Live music by Mees and Jens

Mees and Jens are two musicians who play a wide range of music using acoustic guitar and vocals. The songs are melodic and soothing, but can also be energetic and danceable. The repertoire consists of pop classics, folk and indie music. Besides covers, Mees and Jens also play their own written songs and improvise live.

It promises to be a very nice day and everyone is welcome!

This activity is fun for children from 7 to 14 years old.

Location: Playground Westerkwartier, Ten Katestraat 10A 2321 AW Leiden

Time: 15.30 - 19.30 hrs.

Entrance: Free. Parents/guardians must register their child to reserve a table for the children's flea market. You can register by sending a message via facebook, instagram or LinkedIn.

More information on the website.