Ed Faassen
When Ed Faassen decided to stop building wagons with the Zoezers after 33 years, he still felt the itch. "You still want to keep doing something, huh."
I saw that it was becoming increasingly difficult to find tractors to pull the floats. So I decided to make those from our company available. "Because if the parade can't pull, then there is no carnival!"
"In the past, everyone had a tractor at home, which is difficult nowadays because insurance companies don't want to cover it anymore. We have a tree nursery, so we have a fleet of tractors. It's not a small matter, of course, with all those people dancing on a self-built float. You should feel a sense of responsibility for that."
"When I started building floats, I was 20. We were a whole group of friends and had a healthy (!) rivalry with other Tegelse groups. Everyone had a shed they could use. Even that is becoming more difficult; finding a place to build is hard. But you also see that the youth are doing other things."
"Back in the day, everyone had a tractor at home, that's difficult nowadays."
Ed Faassen on the use of tractors to build wagons
"In Tegelen it's also a difficult story, there is less and less for the youth. Because of that, they go to Venlo. Still, I'm looking forward to the carnival. I look forward to it every year. And I also find it wonderful when it's over. For four days, I go everywhere with my wife, and at a certain point, it's done," laughs Ed.