Lustrum Gala

FINALLY… after waiting for one and a half loooonnggg years the Lustrum Gala was here! As you may remember, the original event (March 2020) had to be cancelled. Apparently, there was a virus going around?

On the 12th of November, the party started. The committee had been working hard all day to get the decorations ready, and wow did they do a good job! The whole location was completely lit up in Innovum colours. We knew we were in the right place, which is more than could be said for lots of people looking for the GLOW installations!

There’s a reason that Lustrum Gala only happens once every 5 -or in this case, 6.5- years. We’re used to seeing our members dirty, tired, and not having showered in 5 days (Intro); this side of Innovum was almost unrecognisable! Beautiful ballgowns, sharp suits, even Jeroen had brushed his hair!

After showing your QR-code you were safe to go inside. The location was immense. High ceilings, fabulously decorated in orange and grey, with the Innovum flag in the prominent position on top of the stage. On the stage was a live jazz band, ready to welcome all the guests. The bar was open, so drinks were flowing, along with conversation between new members, old members, and dinosaurs alike! How wonderful it was to see generations of the backbone of Innovum, all in one place!

The live music was given intervals of speeches from some of the Innovum greats: • The first Chairman • The 5th Chairman • The 10th & 11th Chairman

Hearing from these guys really showed us that despite the fact that the association is 10 years further, the core qualities (bier drinken en kut roepen) have stood the test of time. Thanks to Rob Ritzen for speaking on behalf of Ella Heuting and singing us a special birthday song. We’re lucky to have such great teachers within engineering, especially ones who join in with these kinds of student events.

Even though the speakers did a good job of speaking in English, some Dutch things can’t be avoided. For example, ‘Broek uit op je hoofd’, which reached almost a record number in the course of one evening. We all enjoyed some great food prepared by Ketelhuis, to line our stomachs for the open bar, which we discovered would last the entire evening… Big thanks to the board and the committee for agreeing that the last legal party of the year was allowed to be all or nothing!

A gala would of course not be complete without the king and queen! A Huge congratulations to Sten van der Zee and Karlijn Goossens (Buck’s date) who won on the grounds of most awkward… we mean best dressed! We’d like to take a moment to recognise the debut performance of our very own popstar Emma van Dongen. Emma, thank you for writing a song for us, we really enjoyed it and look forward to many more performances from you!

On this positive note, the party was unleashed with the DJ expertise of DJAJAY and DJ Oxidado. The cold and rainy weather outside was drowned out by the sound of party music, people singing and dancing along, and general merriment.

Before we knew it, the clock had struck midnight. All of us (not just Gijs AKA Cinderella) had to go home. As they say, time flies when you’re having fun.

Again, we want to give a huge thanks to the committee who made sure this event wouldn’t be completely cancelled. I think I speak for everyone when I say: I’m very excited to see you at the next Lustrum Gala in 2025!