From art project to city festival: Haarlem celebrates 100 years of Marilyn Monroe

The sounds of I Wanna Be Loved By You echoed over Haarlem yesterday afternoon. In honor of Marilyn Monroe’s hundredth birthday, the city carillonneur played the famous tune from the Grote or St. Bavokerk, while lookalike and imitator Debra Monroe accompanied the tribute.

Together with the organizers, she climbed the tower to experience the performance up close. That turned out to be quite a challenge. “A challenge, you need to be in shape,” says Debra Monroe. “The climb took us quite a while. But yeah, it was really quite an experience to witness this. I have honestly never done this before.”

Since last week, tributes to Monroe have been appearing in various places in Haarlem. Artworks that are part of the nine-day MM100 festival can be seen particularly in the shop windows on Spaarnwouderstraat.

Lump in the throat

For creator Hans Goes, the festival has become more than he ever expected. “Marilyn Monroe was born a hundred years ago, and a hundred years later, we are still running the festival with a lump in our throat,” he says. The idea originated as a small-scale art project, but has since grown into a city-wide event.

Even decades after her death, Monroe continues to inspire people. According to Goes, new stories and photos of her are still being discovered.

More than an icon

Co-organizer Lisa Cobelens hopes that visitors will also get to know another side of Monroe during the festival. “Marilyn Monroe is often seen as a blonde sex bomb, but she was actually a very interesting, inspiring woman,” she says. “Even though she only lived to be 36, she meant a great deal to women and the less fortunate.”

After the performance, a special moment followed for Debra Monroe. As she stood atop the tower, she felt that Monroe’s spirit was briefly close. “Her strength, her warmth, her perseverance—that has inspired me so much, also in my daily life, that she is truly in my heart.”

When a gust of wind lifted her dress at the end of the performance, she immediately thought of the famous image of Monroe. “It almost felt like a sign.” Downstairs, she was met by visitors who wanted to have their picture taken with her. “That really was an incredible goosebumps moment.”

The program for the coming days includes film screenings at the Filmkoepel, theater and dance performances, lectures, and an art route, among other things.