Celebrating the Life and Work of Drenthe Poet Roel Reijntjes: The Roel Reijntjes Festival in Beilen.

The Stefanuskerk Beilen Foundation will hold the festival on September 16 in collaboration with the Huus van de Taol, says chairman Jan Drogt. “It will be a kind of ode to the regional language.”

Reijntjes, who died in 2003, was born and raised in Beilenaar. “The good thing is, he lived here near the church and also wrote poems about ‘de olde karke’, as he called him. That is why this location is so suitable for the festival. His bust is also opposite in the cemetery,” says Drogt.

Year of birth

For a few years now, the foundation has been operating the church building in the heart of Beilen and the majority of Sunday services are held in the Pauluskerk elsewhere in the village. The Stefanuskerk Foundation organizes cultural events and rents out the church hall to other organizations and individuals. “When we discovered earlier this year that 2023 is the hundredth year of Reijntjes’ birth, we decided to link an event to it,” explains Drogt.

Singer René Karst performs songs from the album The Poet and the Soul which he released together with his mother as Duo Karst in 1998. “This is an album with ballads of poems by Roel Reijntjes that they have set to music. We are very pleased that René wants to come and play those songs, precisely because he mainly makes party music these days.”

Reijntjes Encyclopedia

Writers Henk Nijkeuter and Erik Harteveld and former Beiler hospitality entrepreneur Henk Berghuis also tell stories about the bird of paradise, as the poet was also called. Nijkeuter wrote a biography about Reijntjes and collected his poems and stories. Drogt: “He is a walking Reijntjes encyclopedia.”

Henk Berghuis knew Reijntjes personally and talks about his own experiences with the poet. “For example, he performed on Berghuis’ mother’s birthday,” says Drogt. During the festival, attention will also be paid to Reijntje’s love-hate relationship with the Drenthe literary magazine Roet.

Regional language

The Lower Saxon Vocal Ensemble will also perform. Drogt: “That choir revolves around the regional language. That is also one reason why we organize this festival: to stimulate Drenthe. When Frisians who do not know each other meet and notice that the other understands Frisian, they immediately speak Frisian. This happens less quickly in Drenthe, even though they can speak Drents. We Drenthe should be a bit more proud of our regional language.”

The organization wants to appeal to a broad target group with the festival about the Beil bird of paradise. “It was a striking figure. We think this event could be of interest to many people,” says Drogt. “Whether it will be a recurring festival? That depends on how it is received.” Tickets will soon be on sale via stefanuskerkbeilen.nl