From the 7th until the 15th of July we stayed in Germany. We were guests at the Xth International Folk Festival of Lusatian Sorbs in Bautzen. The motto of the festival was „Integration in Europe – diversity of the regions.“ On Sunday morning we went on the road in Wulkaprodersdorf. The first stop was the beautiful city of Dresden on the Elbe. On the first day we learned that it may be a surprise to order popcorn in a German movie, because it is always sweet!

We visited Dresden and Görlitz, the easternmost town in Germany, visited the porcelain factory in Meissen, one of the last German dyers in Pulsnitz, a museum of ribbon-production and an old “Pfefferküchelei”, a house where gingerbread was made. We went south along the Elbe to the fortress Königstein and the SaxonSwitzerlandNational Park.

On Thursday the festival started. Folk groups from all around the world, from Yakutia, Australia, Canada, Africa and Europe participated. The festival took place not only in Bautzen, but also in Sorbian villages. In addition to the performances, the groups also got to know traditions and regional attractions.

On Sunday after mass a long parade and the final gala-perfomance of all groups was organized. For four days 18,000 people attended the events. The festival finale was broadcast live on the Internet. We were impressed by the good organization of the festival, congratulate the Lusatian Sorbs to the successful Xth Folk Festival and thank that we were invited to participate.

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