Festival of Nations was lovely!
This year there was a concerted effort to take lots of pictures and try and capture a little of the special heart and soul of the FoN and through it the school and community.
See gallery here below
Photos 1-45 by Oliver Blackbourn, Buzz and Website Editor and 46-74 by Florian Lancer, Photographer for the Festival of Nations Team. Photos selected by the photographers and a small parent student panel.
How great it was to see so many people and enjoy the events and the food. Even the weather co-operated, rain coming before and after the event. Around 4 p.m. things started to get wet.
After the lockdown last year and the online FoN, this years' event had the energy of two festivals. The stage show was very lively, and there was a lot going on. There were lots of people keen to get the large candyfloss from the Abitur students, they ended up needing eye protection from the sugar. The back was very lively with plenty of people exploring the stalls. As always, it's great to have a fun, eclectic lunch, in my case, Jamaican patty, Bakewell tart, prawn dumpling and Croat grilled meat. Everything was great.
This year there was a thrift store selling good clothes and the bookstall went corridor, with a lovely feeling of space. There were stalls from the Diversity and other teams and the usual wonderful mix of fun and food from the class stalls. The Friends were out with their lovely Aperol Spitz drinks and friendly greetings as well as their new clothing lines. A lot of people were rocking the new designs and looked very cool.
The stage show was very dynamic and cool. The DJ rocked it out, and the stage management was excellent. The dance-off caused a great deal of excitement and hilarity among the students. The gift basket recipients got loud shout calls and a couple of the missing winners got shouts from the whole courtyard, especially the student winner who has the name of a famous singer! Fantastic! There was a new FoN first, with one lucky winner winning two gift baskets almost consecutively. A lot of people held their breaths for the last gourmet basket, but it was not to be! A lucky staff member carried it off.
Indian drum group Ramanbaug Yuwa Manch (Youth Forum Germany) entertained the crowd just as the clouds teetered a little towards rain, but the drums drove it off. There is a short video of the first minute of their performance on the link page below. Sadly I did not see the choir or orchestra.
Well done to everyone who worked so hard during the day and sometimes all day, and to those who set up and took down during the rain. The Festival of Nations Team put on a great day. Thank you! Not only was it lovely, it was very succesful. According to the Friends, the FoN raised 25,000 euros for the community. Income from stands was 19,000 euros, well done everyone! Sales of yearbooks raised 900 euros, people buying a great school memory, and school clothing: 4600 euros. Clearly the new clothing design was a major hit!
Thank you to all those who allowed their photos to be taken. If you have any stories or feedback about the day let me know at
Here is a short video of the start of the performance by Indian group Ramanbaug Yuwa Manch who performed at the Festival of Nations. The name means Youth Forum Germany. Thank you for permission to put up your video and the very friendly and pleasant chat.
Portrait smartphone video, in HD. Manually select 1080p playback otherwise it defaults to a very poor low level. Video here or click the picture below.
