Wednesday evening, shortly after six. Hostess Annemarie cheerfully welcomes us to her home on the Dorpsstraat. A colorful company awaits in the garden. At the head: Mirko, Steffi and their little Paula - all the way from Cologne, loyal island and festival visitors for years. Next to them: Joep, business director at sustainability organization Lab Vlieland, together with his wife Ingrid. On the other side of the table sit Julia and Kees, both programmers of De Unie: the social program of Into The Great Wide Open. And last but not least, host David. He fills the glasses with homemade wine while Annemarie puts the food on the table: a salad, grilled vegetables and a sheet-pan pie. Completely vegetarian, especially for the guests from the Randstad. 'I like it surprisingly well', admits David, who does love a piece of meat. 'But once you guys are out the door, I'm going to the snack bar', he jokes. 

A few years ago, the couple moved from the Driebergen region to Vlieland, where David started working for shipping company Rederij Doeksen. A modest and honorable profession, he calls it. 'And a nice way to get to know the rhythm of the island.' In the meantime, he works as a policy advisor for the Municipality of Vlieland. Putting down roots on the island cost the couple little effort. 'As long as you behave somewhat normally and respect the island, you are welcomed with open arms. A matter of participating in things every now and then, and especially not thinking that everything needs to change here.'

A nice bridge to Kees and Julia's Unie program, which calls on citizens to join local associations and thus counteract polarization. Keeping the conversation going is one of the spearheads of the program. The importance of this is underlined once again by this dinner. Of course, there are some differences and innocent prejudices back and forth ('Do you all drink oat milk?'), but that absolutely does not get in the way of a cozy evening. On the contrary, there is endless chatting about winemaking, the festival, island life and the question of whether or not it is nice to live in Amsterdam. And what turns out? The dinner guests have surprisingly much in common. Opinions might sometimes differ, but everyone is in complete agreement on two things: the love for Vlieland, and for David's homemade wine.