« Before, we started from the Liévin indoor stadium, but this year, there is the Route du Louvre. We therefore contacted Loisinord, because it seemed to us to be a good place: starting at the foot of a slag heap is a good symbol. », explains Alain Glatigny, organizer of the Holiday Route. This popular event created by the Berkshire association which bears the same name aims to “ reconstruct the journey that the miners took with their families, in Berck ».
Meet at 7 a.m., departure at 9 a.m.
For this twelfth edition, which has the theme “From the settlements to the sea”, a little more than 300 old vehicles (from the 1950s to 1980s) are expected from 7 a.m. in Nœux-les-Mines. Individuals but also members of around ten automobile clubs in the region, Belgium and England will be there. Some will come dressed in 1950s and 1960s outfits.
We will have to manage 900 people in two hours.
« All participants, who have pre-registered, will receive the road book, rally plate etc. We will offer them coffee and croissantsexplains Alain Glatigny. We will have to manage 900 people in two hours. It’s a lot of preparation work. » Among the hundred volunteers from the association mobilized all day, around twenty will be present in Loisinord.
“Tour de France atmosphere”
The first departures will be at 9 a.m. Direction Bruay-la-Buissière, Anvin, Pernes-en-Artois, Hesdin, Montreuil, then Berck. The convoy will be escorted by around forty bikers from the Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise motorcycle club.
« We try to reproduce the journey almost identically, in particular the stop at Hesdin for the unmissable fry shacks. There is a Tour de France atmosphere throughout the route, it’s spectacular! » guarantees the organizer.
The holiday route: departure from the Loisinord site at 9 a.m. Lunch break (fries) around 12 p.m., in Hesdin. 3 p.m.-4:30 p.m.: vehicle exhibition in Montreuil. From 5 p.m., parade on the Berck esplanade.
