Gazing at the Groninger canals during Winterwelvaart

The tourist gaze is a phenomenon described by John Urry. There is no such thing as ‘the’ tourist gaze, because it depends on the time frame and the society someone lives in. The tourist gaze is about the way people view the sights they visit as tourists out of the everyday life. The visual elements play a more important role here than in everyday life. The view can be passed on forever through the pictures that are taken for instance, or postcards. The view is often associated with something ‘typical’ for the area that has to be captured. Here, you could mention the ‘typical Dutch’ of ‘typical Groningen.’

Where I experienced this tourist gaze was at Winterwelvaart, a festivity that takes place at the end of December during one weekend. Part of the Groninger canals was filled with old boats that you could enter and they all had lights attached to the boat which gave the stunning view that you can see on the pictures. On both sides of the canal, market stalls were placed which sold food, but also knitwear or jewellery for instance. What added to the atmosphere in my opinion, was the music that could be heard at several places which added perfectly to the cosy atmosphere of people eating and drinking together. Plenty of people were taking photographs on the bridges, with their mobile phones or large professional cameras. I noticed plenty of different languages around me, which suggested that I wasn’t the only tourist here. Everyone was staring at the view of Winterwelvaart at night and was capturing the view which in their opinion showed ‘the typical Groninger canals during the winter.’ You could say that all were influenced by the tourist gaze in their own way.

The Groninger canals with the A-Kerk tower on the bakcground

Together with many people gazing at the beautiful view

Reference:

1) Urry, J. (2002). The tourist gaze. London, SAGE, pages 1-3.

Beginning musical adventure Groningen - Eurosonic Noorderslag

Tourism is something that is nowadays present in all of our lives, whether you are a tourist yourself or see them around you. The definition of a tourist that I will use in this blog is based on the UNWTO definition of tourism and is: Someone that travels to other places or countries, outside his/her usual environment, with a business or personal purpose. In my case, my destination will be Groningen, in the north of the Netherlands and I will be the one travelling around this (hopefully) beautiful city. My main purpose for visiting Groningen is to find the musical note of this city. This time (since I have visited before) I want to find different spots offering types of music that bring together different types of people. I hoped before I started my trip to the north that I would find (undiscovered) music spots that are well suited for visiting as a tourist.

And I was lucky enough to start my trip at the starting day of the music festival Eurosonic Noorderslag, immediately marking the musical aspect of my trip. Because I arrived late in the evening, I had already missed the first music artists who were performing for free at the Grote Markt. The last artist is Typhoon which you can see on the picture. Unfortunately, his lyrics were in Dutch so I could not fully understand him, but the atmosphere was amazing. Everyone sang and danced along to his songs and he was able to bring everyone in a summer mood although it was nearly freezing. That was the first time I felt connected with the city, barely a tourist anymore, and I wondered whether that would happen in more spots I would visit… 

Typhoon at the Grote Markt, Eurosonic Noorderslag

Reference:

1) World Tourism Organisation UNWTO. Understanding Tourism: Basic Glossary.