Ootmarsum

Ootmarsum is a small town in the hilly corner of Twente with a Romanesque basilica of the thirteenth century, a centre of half-timbered and brick houses, and an unusual density of art galleries and studios - it drew painters from the twentieth century onwards and now has several dozen commercial galleries, a museum for the painter Ton Schulten, whose blocky coloured landscapes are widely known in the Netherlands, and an open-air museum of Twente farm buildings. Its Easter custom is genuinely old: on Easter Sunday and Monday the Paasgebruiken are performed by a group of unmarried men called the Poaskerls, who lead the town through the streets singing a set of Latin and Dutch Easter hymns in a fixed circuit, ending at a bonfire on a hill outside. It has been recorded here for centuries and is on the national intangible heritage list.

What you actually see

• The Easter custom - the Poaskerls leading the town in hymns to a hilltop bonfire.
• Timber-framed houses - the Twente centre round a Romanesque basilica.
• Several dozen galleries - an unusual concentration for a town this size.
• A Twente farm museum - the open-air buildings on the edge of town.

When to go

Easter for the custom; April to October otherwise. A day.

Honest expectations

The Easter custom is on two days a year and the town fills for it. Galleries are commercial and many close on Mondays. Twente is far from the Randstad and public transport is slow.

Nearby

Lutterzand and the Dinkel valley are east; Almelo is west.