The Youth Festival Week is an international gathering of folk dancers and musicians that takes place every two years around Wewelsburg Castle. Twelve local folk dance groups invite folklore groups from all over the world to join them for a week of dance, music, fun and values. We from Geseke have enjoyed taking part in this event for over 60 years.
In 1954, the festival week took place for the first time under the direction of Gregor Tomaschewski. After Wilfried Reckmann took over the musical direction, the festival week developed into a major event in the Paderborn region. Today, it is organised by the Paderborn district youth welfare office, Markus Smolin from the Ostwestfälischer Volkstanzkreis and Wolfgang Ehlert from the Danzdeel Salzkotten.
But what does it mean for the people of Gesek to be part of the festival week?
Every two years, the festival week is our "big event", for which all the groups prepare months in advance. In addition to numerous performances, it is important for us to convey as much tradition and values as possible to our guest group and to get to know their nation. A key factor here is the accommodation in host families, which creates a special relationship between individuals. This has led to long-lasting friendships and contacts that go far beyond "folk dance life".
Over the many years of the festival, we from Geseke have already had groups from Hungary, Estonia, France, Sweden, Ireland, Norway, Mallorca, Portugal and Bulgaria.
During the anniversary festival week in 2013, we were delighted to welcome the guest group "Leigarid" from Estonia again.
We very much hope that many more festival weeks will take place in the future and that we can continue to welcome many old and new friends from abroad.