St. Maarten Festival

The St. Maarten celebration, held on 11 November, is also called 'feest van het delen' in the Netherlands - the festival of sharing.

For St. Maarten’s Festival in Zaltbommel, my Dutch hometown, a reenacting saint rides into the old church on a horse. Brandishing his sword, the saint cleaves his cloak in half and shares it with those in need of warmth. Kids then follow the saint around the old city, swinging their homemade lanterns and singing songs about keeping lights lit brightly in the cold and gloom. (Their eyes fixed upon bowls of sweets, which they will soon be given.)

The town is transformed by candles and small bonfires; there is something warm about families celebrating brightness and sharing (and eating sweets) together.

In 2016 I made the ink and watercolour drawing above. I love the smokey, glowing excitement of the festival and tried to capture that in this image. In 2017 it was used for that year’s festival brochure and programme.

(See the programme below - my copy has gotten a bit scrappy!)

In 2018, I was commissioned by the Zaltbommel Festival Committee to make a print that would be gifted to all the volunteers for the 2019 festival.

I wanted to make something that reflects my 2016 drawing, as well as a picture that highlights the role that children play in St. Maarten’s Festival. The celebration of sharing lies at the heart of the festival so I wanted to capture this, too.

For me, kids sharing sweets under the red cloak of the saint, in the light of the welcoming houses, sums up the values that are important to St, Maarten’s Festival.

I have moved around a lot so don’t truly have a ‘hometown’, but Zaltbommel has become a hometown for me when I visit family in the Netherlands, so this project feels very personal and it is special to be able to make this for the city!