Pella Costumes and Dancers

One thing that I didn't expect to see at the Tulip Festival in Pella were the wonderful Dutch costumes that so many were wearing. There were parades, and dances in the streets, and programs....all with costumed folk. It almost seemed as though all of the locals were wearing a costume of some sort!

This man was in the park, my Mom talked with him and asked to take his picture. She's pretty out going that way. He didn't seem to mind.

The dancers all had costumes. This group performed before one of the many parades. Did I mention that the town put on 6 parades in 3 days? That was pretty ambitious!

The dancers did traditional Dutch dances that they learn back in elementary school. Sometimes they don't have enough male volunteers, so the girls dress in the boys costumes. One of our teenaged tour guides assured us with a giggle that she wasn't a cross dresser except during Tulip Time.

The different costumes represent the 12 different regions of the Netherlands.

Some of the different styles distinguish between the upper and lower classes. I couldn't tell the difference. Almost all of the dancers wore wooden shoes. Clomp, clomp.

You put your right foot in, you put your right foot out, you put your right foot in and shake it all about....no wait....maybe that wasn't what they were dancing to.

This picture just shows a small number of the dancers from that particular performance. Just as many were lined up in the opposite direction.

After the dancers left the streets, Richie Lee and the fabulous 50's band performed at the Grandstand. The Grandstand was a big set of bleachers set up on one side of the street, the stage was on the edge of the park on the other side of the street....so the view was great.

I couldn't help but notice this cute couple in their old time Dutch costumes dancing to a Buddy Holly 50's tune. Being young and in love is pretty much the same in every era. I particularly liked his two colored shoes.

Another group of dancers performed in front of the big Windmill.

Adults on the outside circle, little ones in the middle. They danced to the tunes of an accordion player.

Heel toe, heel toe, slide, slide slide....clap clap clap....wait, that wasn't it either.

Ring around the Rosy, pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes....no wait, that wasn't it either.

Swing your partners round and around......nope. Anyway, there were a lot of dancers and costumes all over town.

Some of the costumes looked more like current day Amsterdam rather than the Netherlands in the late 1840's. But what do I know.

I do know that my favorites were the costumed children. Ohhh....isn't this little guy cute? I'm not as outgoing as my Mom, so most of my photos were from the back....but their costumes were cute from the front and the back!

And this sweet little dress...oh my. The pride and sense of heritage in the families was so apparent. The kids wore costumes and smiles just like their parents had, and like their grandparents had. What a lot of work, what a lot of fun!

It was especially fun to see this little boy just being a little boy....costume or not....just like his dad had been....and his grandpa.

And these two sweeties. The details that were put into the costumes to make them authentic...impressive.

The cuteness factor was pretty impressive too. Those moms went to a lot of work to get their little people all geared up for the festival. Oh come on, you know it was the moms!

But think of the rewards for all of that work....the biggest one being a sense of family pride...and of teaching their kids about where they come from. Just seeing it all made me awfully proud of my Dutch heritage....and isn't that what the celebration is really all about?

Coming tomorrow...The Faces of Pella. Hope to see you then.