The theme for the 64th Brabantsedag in Heeze in 2023 is "Eureka!". The theme was presented Thursday evening, November 10, during a well-attended wagon builders' meeting in village hall 't Perron.
The theme refers to the Greek mathematician Archimedes' exclamation Eureka ("I've got it!") to discoveries and/or inventions. The sixteen chariot groups will search for a discovery by a Brabander or an invention ín Brabant; both the Dutch and the Belgian part of the former Duchy of Brabant.
The wagon groups will come up with an invention and its discoverer. Think for example of Jean Neuhaus who invented the Belgian praline or Cas Arts (Haps), the inventor of the potato harvester. Different this year is the time period for the theme; there is no starting year and one may choose up to and including 1973, i.e. fifty years before the Brabant Day in 2023.
During the theater parade on Sunday, Aug. 27, 2023, the groups will show with their house-high cars, technology and play what the invention meant and what it meant to the world, in a translation with deeper meaning.
Frank van Lierop, head of the Theme Committee, explains, "In 2011, the Brainport region around Eindhoven and Helmond was named the smartest region in the world. The jury report praised the 'example of a new way of thinking about cooperation and regional development', in a global competition of technological innovation. Looking back at our past, genius inventions and brilliant theories were created within the borders of the Duchy of Brabant. There are also born Brabanders who have made themselves immortal somewhere in the world through brilliant moments. What binds them is their 'eureka moment'."
It is up to the chariot groups to be inspired by these inventions, discoveries or theories and come up with brilliant translations and inventions of their own. The theater parade on the last Sunday of August 2023 will prove why Brainport - then and now - was and is one of the smartest regions in the world. The result will be passing total theater with original designs and bold technology, telling a complete story in a few minutes.
