Maastrichts Mooiste 2007 (Part 1): Of beer trays and Cuban flags or The Waiters’ Race
Over the weekend of 8 – 10 June 2007 the city of Maastricht was host to a cultural and athletic festival known collectively as ‘Maastricht’s Mooiste’. Organized annually by the Maastricht’s Mooiste foundation, the event proved to be a dynamic and unforgettable event full of great multicultural flavor and pleasant competition.
‘Raindrops keep falling on my head…’ That iconic musical line was running through mine as I left my warm and dry abode for the Kesselkade, a boulevard alongside the Maas river whose restaurants and cafés are usually of more immediate interest than the rather drab looking streets that lie immediately in front.
But on this dreary day, the Kesselkade would see a battle testing strength, balance, endurance, and most importantly, a substantial amount of alcohol, for this was to be the site of the Waiters’ Race (or Kelner Race in Dutch). The race was to pit teams of waiters and waitresses from some of Maastricht’s most well known bars and cafés - de Kadans, Café Falstaff and Mise en Place - against each other in a heated relay contest. The tricky-to-negotiate obstacle course required jumping over miniature hurdles and boxes and stepping through hoops, while carrying beer and soft drink laden trays from one end of the Kesselkade to the other.
On arrival, I saw a troop of the Maastricht Athletic Clubs’ energetic stepping team giving a preamble show to the Waiters’ Race. As I, and the quickly growing audience, took in the athletic performance of the lithe women, noticeable activity began brewing around the stage. A large inflated archway served as the starting point to the upcoming competition. Black and green shirts emerged with logos of de Kadans, Falstaff and Mise en Place emblazoned across them. The pinging sounds of guitars being tuned could be heard, the immediately recognizable colors of a Cuban flag were being unfurled over the front of a keyboard, and…drink trays were being handed out. The main event was about to begin.
After the rules and regulations of the race were announced, the first round kicked off. It proceeded without a broken bone, laceration, and nary a spilled beer as the racers deftly navigated the obstacles laying between them and victory. This was made more difficult as each leg of the race required a change over of the trays from one waiter or waitress to another waiting at the opposite end of the Kesselkade.
As the first round ended de Kadans had taken the lead, with the Falstaff and Mise en Place following in their wake. After a short break the semi finals commenced, which saw more red faced and eager runners, in sneakers and intimidating high heels (which increased my awe at the waitresses’ ability to race at great speed and stay upright while doing so, although their drink trays did not always remain with them).
But in comparison to the first round it seemed as if the competitors sacrificed delicacy for speed in their desire to the be the first team to reach the finish line.
But even that competitive drive saw exception, for on the second leg of a race, one of the runners, on reaching one of the placed boxes he was meant to delicately step over, simply sat down with his drink tray, took one of the beers from it and after an all too appreciative member of his team followed suit and joined him, they both began to imbibe the beer.
This was a decadent departure from both the race and the slightly servile position that waiters and waitresses usually occupy. And while it may have set the team back in the rankings and made it face possible disqualification, the culprit was met with a hero’s welcome at the finish line by his colleagues and the cheering audience.
In the end, the Falstaff reigned as the champions of the Waiters’ race, routing the disqualified Kadans (whose liberal beer spillage had not entertained the judges as much as the audience) and the refined catering team of Mise en Place who placed second by default.
As the victorious Falstaff team raised their trophy above their heads and darkness descended on the Kesselkade, the night seemed to have reached its climax, but this was not the end in any way, shape or form, for no sooner had the Falstaff team left the stage than the Cuban band ‘Espino Cubano’ commenced its performance of the exotically sensual music that is Salsa, and they were not alone, for accompanying them were members of Salsa con Pasión, a dance group who teaches and performs Salsa in and around Maastricht.
The emotive and sonorally pleasing singer lent an atmosphere of Latin spiciness to the drab weather and as the Salsa dancers spun to the Latin rhythm, some members of the audience spontaneously joined in, leading to the outbreak of a miniature party that I unfortunately had to retreat from.
But on my way home I began to feel new appreciation for the physical difficulty and delicate precision that is required to be a waiter and was satisfied that I could be there to witness this microcosm of one of Maastricht’s defining characteristics, that of its more than 300 bars and restaurants. I have to say that based on this experience quality and quantity can definitely go hand in hand.
By Eliot Rolen
Eliot Rolen (US) is currently studying at University College Maastricht. He is also a correspondent for Informeel, within the newly launched UM Student Media initiative.
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