From Unity, 10 March 2007

Off to Dortmund in the green

Once again the “steel city” in the industrial heart of Germany will be hosting the festival of the German communist weekly Unsere Zeit. When the German Communist Party and its paper started the bi-annual event in 1974, little did they think that thirty-two years down the line it would still be going in full steam.
     Through good and bad times the “fest” has survived, and by now it is virtually impossible to list all the artists from around the globe who have been there and performed at it. Mikis Theodorakis, the giant Greek composer, the rock star Bruce Cockburn from Canada, the Fureys from Ireland and of course “our own” Sands Family, Pete Seeger from the USA, and more or less every German band, singer and songwriter of fame from both the GDR and the Federal Republic—the space of a medium-size book would not do to name them all.
     2005 saw a noticeably increased influx of visitors from Ireland. A fifteen-strong group travelled with the CPI, and the Sands Family, who were on the bill, brought their own contingent. Most of us thought this might be a one-off thing, but the organiser of the trip, Marion Baur, who believes that “standing still is going back,” had other plans. “We’ll take twenty this time” was the order; and twenty we are taking. 5 from Belfast, 7 from Limavady, 6 from Dungiven and surrounding villages and 2 from Dublin make up the squad. Sixteen of them are twenty-one years old or younger.
     They will fly out from Belfast on 22 June and return on the 25th. During those three days they will have experienced top acts and amateur artists from many countries, and they will have met revolutionaries and progressive-thinking people from all over; 60,000 of them are the expected crowd.
     The national chairman of the German Communist Party, Heinz Stehr, who is expecting visitors from about twenty-five countries, spoke to us on the phone last week. “There will be friends and comrades from literally all corners of the world. We are very happy to hear that for the second time in succession such a large group from Ireland is coming. Twenty people make you the second-biggest contingent, after our guests from Cuba. We will do our best to make you feel good here in Dortmund.”
     Second-largest group after the Cubans! Wouldn’t that make your heart go faster?
     It wasn’t easy to get the trip organised. Says Marion Baur: “With prices for flights up about 50 per cent from the last time, I first thought it won’t be possible. Some of the young ones haven’t even got the money for the plane, never mind all the rest. But they are keen to go and to find out what we are about. It’s a bit like a mission of learning.
     “I have been at the fest many times, and I know there is no better way for people to really get to know communists than in the unique atmosphere it produces every time. We’re on a shoestring budget, but we will do it. We appreciate every pound of sponsoring we can get from friends and comrades.”
     The first step has been taken; the flights are booked, and we will keep readers updated on the preparations from now on. We will also try to do interviews with as many of the travellers as possible and ask them about their reasons for going and their expectations.
     For details ring Marion at (028) 77742655 or e-mail her at flaxmill@gmx.net.

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