Thousands of Rotterdam residents said goodbye to Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb in Het Park on Sunday afternoon.
Farewell festival
A spokeswoman for the mayor spoke of ‘a beautiful, sunny day’, on which a beautiful farewell could be said to the departing mayor.
In the park near the Euromast, the municipality had organized a festival between 13:00 and 17:00, so that the residents of the city could say goodbye to the mayor and thank him. According to the spokeswoman, about 10,000 people came to the festival throughout the day to do so.
In the park at the Euromast there were eight stages with music, dance and workshops. At the end of the program Aboutaleb himself climbed one of the stages to address the people of Rotterdam. In his speech he thanked the people of Rotterdam and spoke highly of the city. He was also sung to by Lee Towers who sang ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.
Aboutaleb was mayor of Rotterdam for fifteen years. On October 1, he will be succeeded by Carola Schouten.
