The Kermis is fun for everyone, but especially for the kids. The city centre of the town has changed in a magical place with a lot of fun things, colorfull lights, loud noises and lots of candy. The older people also enjoy the rides, but they often combine it with drinking beer at outdoor bars. The combination of kids who ate too much sugar candy and grown-ups who drank too much beer, and rides where they are swung around dizzy or bumped hard change the streets in a colorfull pallet of used tickets, empty candy wraps and the vomit of those who had a too weak stomach.
On the Kermis there are always a few classics returning every year, like the very popular bumper cars, the house of mirrors and the haunted house. The rides are often pretty expensive though, but there are some ways around that for the smart ones. Where you can ride a small rollercoaster that takes less than a minute for about 3 euros, it is also possible to go into a house or mirrors when you are already pretty drunk, so it will take at least an hour to find the way out. I remember how me and my friends in our younger years smoked a big joint before going into a walk-through haunted house. I don't remember much of it, but we were in there for at least an hour and a half. Another classic is the shooting gallery, where guys who have girlfriends are supposed to shoot well and win a large teddybear for their girlfriends. When I had a girlfriend I passed that one though, I was afraid she would want to kiss me to thank me for the bear, because she was throwing up after a wild ride before we got to the shooting gallery.
There are also new rides every year too. The people want rides to be bigger, faster, and more extreme every year. Last year I saw a huge construction in which about 8 people in a cart were launched higher than the church tower, and then went up and down on bungee-jump elastic cables while screaming their lungs out. I don't go in these things myself, but I do enjoy to see how the screaming women have trouble holding down their skirts in the wind.
Many towns also have a special Kermis day, called Pink Saturday or Pink Monday, where the town gets filled with gay people celebrating. There are gay parades, and a lot of people go into town to look at sexy dressed lesbians and flamboyant drag queens, and at night there are lots of special gay parties.
In the towns where the Kermis is held this weekend it will be an extra exciting night, because tonight our Orange soccer players will play against Costa Rica in the quarter finals of the World Championships. Orange fever is at its peak, and we are very confident in our team. About 30% of the Dutch think we are going to win in the finals, and since Costa Rica is not highly ranked when it comes to soccer, we expect to kick their ass bigtime tonight. If we do, there is a chance we play Belgium and Germany in the semi-finals and in the finals. If we do, and if we beat them all, it will be the most impressive championships ever. But if we loose, the disappointment here will be huge, so we rather not think about that for now. Tonight we shout: Hup Holland!
