Tilburg should become the first second-hand city in the Netherlands: 'Tilburg can embrace that'

René Mommers (64) left Tilburg forty years ago to live with his wife in Churchill, Australia. They built a new life there. “If I had to do my life over again, I would make the same choices.” “I had a good life in Tilburg. My wife, Lucy, has family living in Australia, they emigrated in the 1950s. Lucy always said she wanted to go to Australia too. I came out of military service in 1983. Unemployment was quite high in the Netherlands. So I said: …

The festival programme is bursting with activities. For example, visitors can participate in restoration workshops, get creative with materials from thrift stores or just browse around at one of the many locations. “Second-hand is about much more than fashion. It is a way of thinking, a creative approach to things and reuse”, Kelly explains. The second-hand city of Tilburg has traditionally had a strong social and working-class mentality: puttin…