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Dutch Town Installs Official Silly Walks Crosswalk

Well folks, put another dollar in the “Monty Python Reference” jar, because we’re going to talk about the “Ministry of Silly Walks.” The famous Monty Python sketch hit the news once more because the town of Spijkenisse in Holland officially designated one of its major crosswalks the “silly walk” crossing.

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Apparently, the idea came from a prank in Scandinavia, but Spijkenisse decided that it would go ahead and make the crossing official business. Apparently, this is likely to be the first official “silly walk” crossing in the world, and like the original Monty Python sketch, the town wants the “silly walk” crossing to make people laugh.

Alderman Jan Willem Mijnans said, “It’s nice to see people with a smile. We hope that many people will do that.” Of course, the town officially doesn’t want too many people doing it. The sign is at one of the busiest crosswalks in town, so the government will switch it back if people are causing traffic issues.

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The opening ceremony for the crosswalk included a speech from Mijnans followed by a group silly crossing by the HipHop students from the Center for the Arts (Centrum voor de Kunsten in Dutch). The town then gave certificates to the first five people to make a silly crossing.

It seems that, at least so long as the crews were filming, most people ignored the crossing sign. However, they did manage to capture some gems, like this highly dedicated group:

Or this gentleman from the Municipality of Nissewaard, which includes Spijkenisse:

Aloys Bijl van @gemNissewaard is dol op de SillyWalk-sketch van @JohnCleese @montypython Hij bracht het speciale zebrapad naar Spijkenisse, zodat voetgangers voortaan ook met een raar loopje de Raadhuislaan kunnen oversteken. Meer op @RTV_Rijnmond pic.twitter.com/zTOiSzEe92 — Jacco van Giessen (@jaccovangiessen) October 18, 2018

Finally, for good measure, let’s remember the sketch that started it all:

News Sources: Stuff, Jacco van Giessen via Twitter, Roel van Deursen via YouTube