The Circle of Düsseldorf Muslims (KDDM) has been organizing its summer festival with a football tournament for ten years now, and on Thursday (8 June) more than 10,000 people came to the Benrath district sports facility. The football tournament of the teams from the mosque communities began early in the morning when temperatures were already summery. From 11 a.m. the gates were opened for the big summer party. There was also a stage on the Ascheplatz and lots of booths all around. A fixed item on the program of the festival is the honorary soccer game, in which an interreligious team played against the traditional team from Fortuna Düsseldorf in the afternoon. The Fortunes didn’t give their opponents a chance, which may also be due to Mayor Stephan Keller, who strengthened the red and white team.
Soap bubbles always fascinate
As in the previous year, the festival was under the extremely sunny influence. The organizers had already asked in advance for sufficient sun protection and headgear to be provided. A large play area was set up for the children and of course the water slide was particularly popular for cooling off. But it also got wet at the fire brigade, where you could test your accuracy with the fire hose and nobody was bothered if a refreshing water mist went wrong.
Many stands invited visitors to the square
Folklore, rap, singing, stand-up comedy and a picture auction for a good cause were offered on the stage. But there was also music on the pitch when the young people from the KUD Sabur club danced together. In addition to numerous catering stands, many organizations use the festival to present their work and make contacts.
There was, for example, the student advisory service of the Muslim university community, companies looking for trainees or volunteer initiatives. For the first time, Bündnis90/Die Grünen and the SPD were represented with stands and were very satisfied with how quickly they got into conversation with the visitors.
Taha Kamat made his debut at the festival. He has just become self-employed with his start-up “Nutmoiselle” and offers hazelnuts and products made from them. This was well received by the guests and the stand was always surrounded.
Natural hazelnuts without chemicals are available at StartUp Nutmoiselle
After the football teams had been playing in groups all day to get into the final, the decisive game kicked off at around 4 p.m. The Islamic-Albanian cultural center on Mindener Strasse had already won third place. The title was between the Masjid Omar Mosque and the IKC Bosnian Mosque. The stands of VfL Benrath were full and the teams were cheered on. The Moroccan Masjid Mosque community from Aderstrasse lived up to the reputation of good Moroccan footballers and took the title.
Final photo after the Fortunes’ 11-4 victory over the interfaith team
After a short break it was time for the game of honor. As in the previous year, Lord Mayor Keller put on the dress of fortune and strengthened the traditional red-white team. The interfaith team competed in all black. Goalkeeper Samy Charchira received bright orange goalkeeper gloves from the opponent and then the game could be kicked off.
The encounter was professionally commented on by Andreas Hecker, who at the beginning praised one brilliant save after another by Samy Charchira. In fact, it was thanks to the keeper that the Fortunes only managed to score the first goal in the 9th minute. Then things went quickly and after 16 minutes the traditional team was ahead 5:0. But the interreligious – in their ranks also vicar Laura Brand and Hartmut Mühlen, who celebrates his 80th birthday next year – didn’t give up and scored two goals. A penalty converted by OB Keller brought the half-time score of 6:3.
Although Aaron Malinsky, the cantor of the Jewish community in Düsseldorf, reinforced the black team in the second half, the Fortunes clearly put them in their place with a score of 11:4. Nevertheless, after the final whistle, everyone’s faces were beaming as they accepted their medals.
Uwe Gerrens and Aaron Malinsky before the medal presentation
This ended the activities on the soccer field, but the celebrations continued for a long time next door on the cinder field and the program of the rebel comedy ensemble Benaissa and Khalid Bounouar was enjoyed. The organizers assume that more than 10,000 visitors attended the KDDM festival.
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Photos from the festival here in the photo gallery:
2023-06-10 10:23:02
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