Music, a mixture of languages and food from near and far: hundreds of people turned the Dresden banquet into a cheerful and colorful festival over the Elbe for the eighth time on Monday afternoon. Along a nearly 600-meter-long table on the Augustus Bridge between the old and new towns, locals, newcomers and guests of the city tried their favorite foods that they had brought with them, donated or received as gifts. As in previous years, people made crafts and played, chatted and discussed, played music and danced, solved puzzles and recited at tables sponsored by 280 companies, cultural institutions and initiatives.
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Even prominent Saxon politicians chatted at the stands in sunshine and clouds. It was one of the most beautiful events of Dresdensaid Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer. Organized by civil society, different cultures come together, “everyone is nice to each other, it’s just great.” Culture Minister Barbara Klepsch placed a plate of fat rolls and gherkins on one of the beer tables and spoke of an “incredibly strong image, our society needs that more than ever.” Mayor Dirk Hilbert was delighted that Dresden was sending out a signal of a peaceful community. Culinary encounters, conversations, celebrating together, “that’s how we imagine our coexistence.”
In response to the organizers’ call, the participants tried new things, exchanged stories and ideas, and laughed with one another. 111 cultural partners and 96 sponsors from business, research, and administration ensured there was plenty of excitement, while uniformed officers from the public order office and police officers ensured that the festival ran smoothly.
The banquet “Dresden is colorful” premiered in 2015 to counter the loud verbal protests of Pegida with the more quiet coexistence. It is intended to show that the city is and remains worth living in for those who come to the city from other parts of the world for private and professional reasons and for those who have had to flee.
“How nice it is when people come together peacefully, eat together, get to know each other or meet again. It could always be like this in Dresden,” said co-initiator Gerhard Ehninger from the leading Cellex Foundation and appealed: “Get to know people and the hatred will subside.”
