Successful 9th edition Bosch Parade 

With more than 36,000 visitors, the Bosch Parade can look back on a successful ninth edition, full of inspiring temptations, penetrating warnings and, above all, lots of theatrical and musical art in and around the water in the city centre of ‘s-Hertogenbosch. The 1250 paid seats, which were available for the first time during this edition, were also well occupied every evening. Visual artists from the Netherlands and abroad created 19 new projects especially for the Bosch Parade and, within the theme of ‘seduction’, paid tribute to Hieronymus Bosch with a fascinating procession of floating art objects full of symbolism, fantasy and absurdity. The public was unanimous in its praise of the renewed approach of this event. 

This edition allowed a lot of room for innovation. The Garden of Earthly Delights, a breeding ground at the Citadel, functioned as a new temporary workshop for the artists, where they prepared their installations from 26 May onwards amidst an exhibition of works by Atelier van Lieshout. Here, moreover, the Parade was concluded every evening with a whirling and atmospheric closing ritual in which the entire Garden of Delights was proverbially set ablaze. 

About this edition

• Erik de Jong, commercial director of the Bosch Parade: “We are back! Bosch’s bizarre dream worlds brought to life with dozens of artists and hundreds of participants. There is nothing like it anywhere else in the world. Our aim was to bring the BOSCH 500 feeling back to the city this edition with festivities for everyone, with a place to create, the Garden of Delights where you can eat, the closing ritual every evening and of course the Bosch Parade as our main programme. We are proud of the result, what we had in mind has succeeded!”

• Miesjel van Gerwen, artistic director of the Bosch Parade: “With his unbridled energy and imagination, Hieronymus Bosch is as infinite source of inspiration for us. At the Bosch Parade, we connect this with water. This year, we have worked with the theme Temptation, based on The Temptation of Saint Anthony, a painting by Bosch. It is incredible to see what artists have done with this inspiration. You see the influence of how things are in the world today, with war and disease, consumerism and climate crisis. The parade truly holds up a mirror to the public, but at the same time is a wonderful art spectacle for everyone.” 

• Lisa Negro (VS), creator of Angler Maiden: “It has been a dream of mine for 20 years to work with European artists and create art installations in Europe. That dream is now coming true.”

• Folkert de Jong (NL), creator of Parade d’Extase in collaboration with Wij-family: “The Bosch Parade was quite an adventure. I was able to explore the limits of my artistry extensively in cooperation with the volunteer team of the Wij-family, resulting in a floating artwork with living images on it in the spirit of Hieronymus Bosch. An amazing experience!”

• Visitors to the Bosch Parade: “A totally new experience of theatre on the water in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, a completely new festival which I did not know yet. I will definitely come again next time.”

Edition 2022: creative connection 

Composer Aart Strootman musically connected the parade, among other things by creating new work for several projects. Dyanne Donk and Daniel Cross were responsible for the composition of the final ritual in the Garden of Earthly Delights. For his project Burning Demons, artist Erik Vink worked together with a huge network of (local) volunteers and participants of Social Theatre (Maatschappelijke Opvang Den Bosch). As young artists, Vince and Thjeu Donders were part of the Bosch Parade for the first time. These brothers came in through the talent development programme and were guided by KOP Breda. 

The Bosch Parade 2022 in figures

Visitors: 36,000

New art works: 19

Artists: from amongst others the Netherlands, Switzerland, the USA and Russia.

Metres travelled in water: 1,200

THE BOSCH PARADE

The Bosch Parade organises a biennial cruise on the Dommel river in the centre of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, with 2022 featuring the ninth edition. During this edition, the Bosch Parade attracted 36,000 visitors, including from the USA, Israel, Finland, Australia, Greece, the United Kingdom, Russia and Sweden. During the 8th edition in 2019, the Bosch Parade attracted 27,000 visitors. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the 2021 edition was postponed to 2022.