Bockbierdag

I went back to Zutphen for the yearly bockbierdag.  I met with the CouchSurfing people at the train station once again.

What a nice festival, of course, you cannot compare it with Oktoberfest, this is a small festival, only one day, however, it is the largest one in the Netherlands. All the small local breweries, and some large ones, set up tents and offer their bock beer, which is a dark beer that they brew once a year at this time. They are very nice, some more fruity than others some more body, but they were all delicious. Of course I did not try them all, only a few, I am not a big drinker, so a few was enough for me.

There was also a parade with all the old beer carts, pulled by horses. Old cars, old people on old bicycles and old tractors and of course, bands.

The horses were beautiful, especially the Frisian horses, which are all black, and they have a long, thick mane and tail, often wavy, as if the hairs have been braided and then they were let loose. They have long hairs in their calves and a very distinctive brisk and high stepping trot, which made them look very elegant.

There were some tents with food, a few with french fries with mayonnaise, and some more with hamburgers and hot dogs and the ever present herring, and for dessert nothing better than poffertjes (little pancakes) serve with tons of butter and power sugar.

There were three stages with bands and singer, and many people; you could not even walk from one tent to the other. Overall, it was a very nice festival, even that we had couple showers, but let us not forget this is Holland, it always rains here.