Each year at the Zest Fest there is a dramatic performance which I go down with my family to watch. This year I noticed on the Zest Fest website that it was named “The Chamber Of Rhetoric Performance”. I didn’t know what it meant until I did some research and this is what I found: The chambers of rhetoric were also known as the Rederijkerskamers and were dramatic groups which lived in the coastal regions of western Europe. These were low-lying countries which were below sea level, such as: The Netherlands and Belgium. During the 15th and 16th centuries the members of Rhetoric (Rederijkers) were interested in Dramas and Lyrics.

The Chambers of Rhetoric were founded in Flanders in the 15th century. They started to perform in Holland, Then started to perform with poems. Most Dutch cities sponsored a chamber of rhetoric, most cities had more than one. The Franc Hals Museum was built as they won the lottery in which chambers of Rhetoric participated from all over the country. At the start of the 16th century, the Rederjiker had three societies, the “Violieren” the “Olyftack” and the “Goudbloem”.

I found this really interesting because every Zest fest the outdoor performance is called the Chamber of rhetoric, I thought it was just the title of the performance, each year but with a bit of research I found out some really interesting historical facts…And learnt some weird Dutch names.