Sterrentocht
Tilburg Star Tour gives wintry Tilburg warmth and radiance
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On Sunday, January 8, Tilburg will be introduced to a new winter event. At 5 p.m., the Tilburg Star Tour will depart from the Heikese kerk for the first time. Light is central to this colorful procession. Leading the way is a giant, illuminated star, followed by hundreds of children with homemade lanterns, dressed up youth and adults, singing, dancing and musical groups. The Tilburg Star Trek then travels through the downtown area and is back at 7 p.m. at the Heikese kerk.
That illuminated star, it is 3.5 meters high and 3.5 meters …
On Sunday, January 8, Tilburg will be introduced to a new winter event. At 5 p.m., the Tilburg Star Tour will depart from the Heikese kerk for the first time. Light is central to this colorful procession. Leading the way is a giant, illuminated star, followed by hundreds of children with homemade lanterns, dressed up youth and adults, singing, dancing and musical groups. The Tilburg Star Trek then travels through the downtown area and is back at 7 p.m. at the Heikese kerk.
That illuminated star, it is 3.5 meters high and 3.5 meters wide. Tilburg artist Simon Haen created this striking object on behalf of the Stichting Het Vierde Geschenk. This foundation organizes the Tilburg Star Tour, together with schools, community centers, Ontdekstation 013, choirs, musicians, theater and dance groups the city poets and many dozens of volunteers, young and old. Ton Lammers will work with culture coaches in the neighborhoods to make lanterns and light sculptures that will be carried along in the Tilburg Star Trek.
All these people together make the Tilburg Star Tour a new event with which Tilburg can stand out. It is so unique that it is of regional and provincial significance. Prior to the start there will be a preliminary program starting at 4:30 p.m. in front of the Heikese kerk with the performance of two choirs: Ad Parnassum and T-Sing. Two hours later, when the procession returns to the Heikese kerk, there will be a joint demolition performance by all choirs, musicians, participants, children. The total length of the route through the Heuvelstraat and across the Pieter Vreedeplein, among others, has a length of just under one and a half kilometers.
Three new songs have been written especially for this new event by Tilburg composers Wim Glorius and Harry Swinkels. The themes are "together" and "solidarity. These are the ideals that the Foundation The Fourth Gift pursues with the Tilburg Star Tour. Especially in these times there is a great need for this. Light is universal. This means that in principle all citizens of Tilburg can participate. The organization therefore calls on all Tilburgers to join or at least to come and watch.
A striking detail is that students hand out crowns. These are made so that everyone can put them on their head. On the inside of these crowns is a brief explanation about the Tilburg Star Tour. This originated from the Epiphany Entry. This was held twice, in 2019 and 2020. After that, corona threw a spanner in the works. The Tilburg Star Tour could be called a modern version of the Epiphany Intocht. In the Star Tour, the Epiphany still has a role, but now adapted to the metropolis that is Tilburg anno 2023.
The centuries-old ideals of the Epiphany tradition are central to the new Tilburg Star Trek: walking together, in solidarity, equal to each other, helping each other and sharing. These values are also reflected in a second initiative of the Het Vierde Geschenk Foundation, namely the Tilburg Toy Bank on D.J. Jittastraat. A classic, flat cargo bicycle rides along in the Tilburg Star Tour. Visitors are asked to bring toys. These will be received by volunteers of the Sinterklaas Committee and put on the bakfiets. These toys are for children whose parents cannot buy them.
