Feet, matching shoes, a knee—one by one, the parts of the three giants from French theatre company Royal de Luxe are arriving in Leeuwarden. PAX Group from Heerenveen is handling the pickup from Nantes.
Seventeen trucks are needed to transport the puppets and all accompanying equipment to Leeuwarden. The first load arrived this past Monday at the WTC Expo grounds in Leeuwarden, where the French crew is assembling the giants. Two trucks were unloaded yesterday, and another is scheduled for today. The final load will be picked up in France on Tuesday, says Roelof Dijkstra (36), project manager at PAX Construction and Industrial Services in Heerenveen.
The three giants—a deep-sea diver, a little girl, and a dog—will roam the streets of Leeuwarden on August 17, 18, and 19. Their exact route remains a secret. Three of PAX’s trucks will actually take part in the performance—one of them will carry a chair for the giant girl to sit on.
“It wasn’t hard to find drivers for that,” Dijkstra laughs. “They’ll have a front-row seat.”
Dijkstra himself won’t be driving, but he definitely plans to watch the spectacle.
The transport has been in the works for about six months. The theatre company brings its own cranes to suspend the giants—and those, too, had to make their way to Leeuwarden. The crane for the diver alone weighs 28 tons and, even folded, stands about four meters tall. Trucks (with load) in Europe are generally allowed up to four meters in height. For anything above that, the company needed special transport permits in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
“We needed a special trailer underneath,” explains Dijkstra. “The loaded combination ended up being 4.40 meters high.”
So far, the journey has gone smoothly. “The only thing drivers have reported is a lot of road construction in France.”
This is a special assignment for the company, Dijkstra says.
“Sure, oversized loads are part of our daily business—but this is something different. There’s a whole different energy around it. The giants are part of the Cultural Capital programme, and 400,000 visitors are expected. It’s great that we get to play a small part in that. Campgrounds and hotels are fully booked. This is really going to put Fryslân on the map.”