The cultural season traditionally begins in September, which is why ‘DE OPENING’ is organised in Apeldoorn on the last weekend of August. It marks the start of many events, such as the ever-surprising Maaiveld Festival, the Royal Light Festival in the spring, a musical summer in the Oranjepark and at the Stadsoase, the Open Atelierroute and much more besides.
Meet Apeldoorn’s cultural ambassadors. The city’s ambassadors help to raise Apeldoorn’s profile. Through their work, they add flavour and colour to Apeldoorn as a delightful suburban town. And they bring culture to our residents in an accessible way.
You can’t see him, but you can hear him. Our town carillonneur, Boudewijn Zwart. If you’re walking through the market on a Monday morning, you can hear him playing live. Boudewijn has been playing the carillon (also known as a chime) in the Old Town Hall since 2004. He sometimes refers to himself as a “high-calibre street musician”.
His repertoire is varied: from Bach and Mozart to The Beatles and ABBA, and during the festive season, he also performs Sinterklaas and Christmas songs. Do you have a request? Please feel free to ask.
Boudewijn is not only the City Carillonneur of Apeldoorn, but also plays in the towers of Dordrecht, Ede, Gouda, Amsterdam (the Westertoren, Zuidertoren and the Oude Kerk), Bergambacht, Nijkerk, Schoonhoven, IJsselstein, Barneveld, Wageningen and Zeewolde. As well as playing the permanent carillons, Boudewijn has built his own mobile carillon, which allows him to give concerts anywhere, both outdoors and indoors. This carillon comprises fifty bronze bells. You may well have seen it in Apeldoorn during the Open Monument Days.
Apeldoorn is the only municipality in the Netherlands with a city rapper. The city rapper acts as a musical ambassador for the municipality of Apeldoorn and raises awareness of current issues in Apeldoorn amongst young people. In addition, the city rapper helps to raise the profile of Apeldoorn’s hip-hop/urban scene. It also serves as a platform for talent development. Marv is Apeldoorn’s city rapper for 2026. This makes him the fifth city rapper in our municipality. “”As a city rapper, I want to show that it’s OK to be vulnerable. In fact, it can be a beautiful thing. I hope people can relate to my music and that I can help them through it.”
You can follow Marv on @marv_.055
The city photographer acts as a cultural ambassador for the city and helps to raise Apeldoorn’s profile as a city with a strong outdoor culture. She also plays an important role in cultural policy in general and in strengthening Apeldoorn’s status as a ‘City of Photography’ in particular.
Sam Warnaar will be Apeldoorn’s new city photographer from September 2024. Sam, who trained at the Fotovakschool in Rotterdam, works as a freelance photographer. Her work, which mainly consists of nude photography and (self-)portraits, has regularly featured in exhibitions and fairs in recent years in cities including Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Berlin and Milan. She is thus Apeldoorn’s fifth City Photographer. In July, she will conclude her term with a final exhibition on the theme of “Home”. “‘Apeldoorn is my home, just as it is for nearly 160 thousand other people. Every house is unique. With my new series ’Home”, I want to showcase the diversity of houses in Apeldoorn in an abstract and artistic way.”.
Over the next two years, she’ll be looking closer to home.
You can follow Sam on Instagram @apeldoorncityphotographer.
The city poet is Apeldoorn’s poetic ambassador and writes poems on current, local, cultural and social themes.
Since 2009, Apeldoorn has worked with City Poets who have passed on ‘the pen’ every two years. From 2025, we will be doing things differently and will work with a pool of poets. This will give several residents of the municipality of Apeldoorn the chance to write a city poem, for example through poetry competitions.
Do you have any questions or would you like more information? Please get in touch with us.
Email: cultuur-erfgoed@apeldoorn.nl
