we thing that Bitburg.... 2011

At home, it's time to Xenia Foklore Festival ..

Dear friends, thank you first of all the many notes of praise received on the trip. For us it was a well receive a certificate of merit, but especially a way to enhance a given we were there representing all of you!

I will not dwell on the return trip, also because the video testimonies collected between components make about our emotions

A small note, after having brushed the latest salami, sausages screen headed this time by the beautiful blonde in Bitburg, the return journey continued without difficulty. Only in the last section, on the infamous A3 height Polla, the bus began to show signs of slowing down. It is true that at some point you could not exceed 50 km / h....

The youngest of Miromagnum, Marcello, he immediately understood that it was dirty petrol that somehow did not allow a proper fuel mixture. By common consent, we stopped, we waited for the mechanical support, we left filter changed.

A note on the Traffic Police who immediately Lagonegro has been active in stopping it in a safe area.

Finally we arrived in Mormanno, with a bit of nostalgia we said goodbye but we are ready and loads LTo at our new adventure. The twenty-first edition of Xenia Folklore Festival awaits us, burst tests and meetings. But all this does not frighten us, force Miromagnum

Next stop: Bitburg (Germany) 07-13 July 2011

How many of you know all over the world are organized every year thousands of Festival of Folklore, each of these brings with it sacrifice, commitment, dedication to those who organized and who has the honor of being able to take part.

There are many international organizations that coordinate these events among the most important, we want to remember: CIOFF, IOV, WIPO. many others. Each of these organizations have a common goal, to say the motto of the noted anthropologist Lévi-Strauss's "Diversity is wealth" or to ensure that cultural differences are an element of social cohesion, enrichment and not division. The Festival of folklore as well as being excellent culture are flying along with dance, music, science and unique tools to make that the sole purpose of coexistence of the peoples of this earth.

Looking at the world around us, this vision seems so far away, almost falling into utopian so "romantic." But I wonder if there are all these Festivals, if for every nation there are thousands and thousands of organizations that advance these principles of identity and at the same time comparison, perhaps, these values ​​are not nearly as "discounted"

Only in Italy between bands and folk groups are almost at an altitude of one thousand, a 1.2 average on all 10 municipalities. A fact not to be underestimated! Demonstration of the awards have been had by these municipal associations on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Italy.

This summer Miromagnum participate in one of the most important folklore festival organized by CIOFF in Europe, "Europäisches Folk Festival-2011". Bitburg is a town of 12,942 inhabitants in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is located 30 km north of the city of Trier, and in the south of the Massif of the Eifel, near the border with Luxembourg. A community with more than 2000 years of history. Bitburg has always been known for its beer production, it is true that the city's motto is "Bitte ein Bit!" (2).

Is also remembered by many for its history during the Second World War. In fact, from Bitburg began the western shoulder of the line by Nazi forces allied to the 82 ° and 101 ° Airborne (3). At the end of World War II, the city was razed to the ground. In 1965 the city under the control of Allied forces in France, was of strategic interest to NATO, was implanted in a short time one of the more important NATO bases airport in Europe. Its sale was in 1995 after the Gulf War.

At 40 years after the end of World War II, during the Cold War, Bitburg, returns to the headlines for the visit of the then Chancellor of Germany Helmut Kohl and U.S. President Ronald Reagan. This period is the forge of change, the events that short story are the first signs that the world is changing. In fact, in November 1984 at the White House, Reagan and Kohl launched a strong appeal to the sharing and collaboration. On the occasion of the G7, which was held in Bonn in 1985, the then West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl saw an opportunity to demonstrate the strong friendship that existed between Germany and its former enemy. Kohl, Reagan invited, to celebrate the 40 th anniversary of VE Day, paying tribute to the fallen at the cemetery near Bitburg Kolmeshöhe.

For more than a visit might seem like many, if not for the fact that within the cemetery, there were mostly Germans who fell among them 22 members of the feared Waffen-SS. In addition, Reagan's team previously had decided not to include a visit to the concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen, as previously suggested by Kohl, not to offend the hospitality of his friend.

Reagan and Kohl, adopted a position not popular, attracting the fury of the press, the ex-combatants on both sides, the international Jewish community, the likes of Frank Zappa, etc., but their vision went far beyond ... With their Decision foresaw what would be a little later success as the fall of the Berlin Wall [09/11/1990] and subsequent unification of Germany [03/10/1990]. On May 5, 1985, Reagan, Kohl and General Matthew Ridgway nonagenarian, who had commanded the 82nd Airborne, the commander of the Luftwaffe General Johannes Steinhoff furan witnesses and artisans of reconciliation between the two nations.

Reagan laid a wreath on the monument of the fallen, they were all standing at attention, the guard of honor with the trumpet sang the silence at the end, Steinhoff who was at the side of the President of the United States, and turned with a gesture protocol, shook my hand firmly in Ridgway happy in a true act of reconciliation. Reagan smiled and shook hands firmly to the General Steinhoff.

 

Since then many things have happened, the world has changed and Bitburg is remembered for that one drop of water that gave life to the peace process, never the place was more suited to hosting a Festival of Folklore.

As an association, "The Miromagnum", are preparing to live 7 to 13 July this new adventure with great attention to the history, culture of this people. Maybe between visits freshen up with a good beer!