The Festival kicked off Wednesday afternoon at the town hall square in Unterschleißheim. After 18 months of preparation, the city band opened the program, while politicians kept their speeches deliberately short. District President Thomas Schwarzenberger (CSU) described the festival as “diverse, connecting, inclusive.”
The festival aims to sustainably strengthen community and culture. Many program items emerged from workshops that also involved clubs and institutions such as the Pfennigparade and the Center for the Visually Impaired and Blind. Cultural office head Jochen Gnauert emphasized that people from 120 nations live in Unterschleißheim and there are more than 120 clubs – culture can connect and strengthen democracy.
Mayor Christoph Böck (SPD) expressed hope that the festival would bring the city community closer together. The Festival takes place every two years in a different municipality; after Haar in 2017, it is now a guest in the Munich district for the second time.
Source: www.sueddeutsche.de
