Julia van Rooij: indispensable force behind the scenes of Bridge to Liberation

Fireworks shows, dazzling performances, light effects, as a visitor you will be treated to a spectacle at Bridge to Liberation. Setting up something like this is a big job, requiring months of work. Julia van Rooij ensures that this is all guided by technology. “Suppliers, the director, designers, light, sound, we translate between all those parties.” As much as the event is about freedom, Julia also gets that much freedom in her work. “What I like so much is that there is quite a lot of room to contribute our ideas!”

From history lesson to work

Julia has now been involved in the project for six years. “We work a lot with Creative Director Alvin Williams, so we know him well. In 2019 we were asked to become the technical producer of the event.” The company where Julia works – Production World – produces events. For Bridge to Liberation this mainly concerns the technical side, such as the floating pontoon, the screen on the bridge and the light shows.

For Julia, the Second World War, which is what Bridge to Liberation is all about, is something from the history books. “In the past, of course, you had history lessons at school with war stories, but I must say that that had faded away a bit.” The work for Bridge to Liberation sparked her interest in that period and helped her learn more about it.

There are people in her immediate environment who have experienced more of it. Julia's father was taught by a teacher who had lost his hand as a child playing with war munitions. “That teacher said that a bridge had been bombed. This prevented troops and supplies from moving any further. That made a deep impression on him. He also learned a lot from his parents, because they were twenty when the war started.”

Freedom for Julia

We would almost forget how special it is that we can live here in peace and freedom. Julia is well aware of that. “Freedom means a lot to me. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, especially after the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. I have gained an extra sense of how nice it is, how we can live the way we live.” Julia also experiences this in her work. “What I personally experience as freedom in this project is that there is quite a lot of room to contribute our ideas.”

And that freedom is nice, because the work comes with its share of challenges. The event does not look the same every year. “It was exciting in 2022. Due to the low water level, we couldn't actually put a pontoon and stage on the water. That is not allowed, because then you are in the way of the ships. Then you have to come up with a different plan with the team in a fairly short time.” Installing the LED screen in the bridge presented a challenge last year. “We used to be able to use aerial platforms on the cycle path, but that is no longer possible because the construction cannot handle it. We had to solve that differently.”

Warm memories

What Julia likes most? “There are side events around Bridge to Liberation, the entire region is focused on what happened. There are many foreign soldiers walking around: British, Polish, American, Canadian. There are also many people who speak to us when we are working. They are very warm, because we are working on that event.” Julia also has fond memories of last year. “I just thought the show was really good last year. Everything was right. I thought that was really cool to experience.”

This year promises to be another spectacle. So every reason to keep September 20 free in your diary!

BRIDGE TO LIBERATION. THE IMPACT OF WAR AND THE VALUE OF FREEDOM.

Bridge to Liberation Foundation
Eusebiusbuitensingel 9
6828 HT Arnhem

Chamber of Commerce 63313618
IBAN NL06RABO0303994940
RSIN NL855182362B01

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