News
24.09.09: Not only the sky was blue
On 19 and 20 September the big Blaubeerland event was held in the Nordsternpark, Gelsenkirchen, as part of the Ruhr children’s festival. The sponsors were the Mayor of Gelsenkirchen and the Peter Ustinov Foundation.
To celebrate world children’s day, there was a very special attraction for the visitors to the Ruhr children’s festival. Part of Nordsternpark had been transformed into a strange blue world, under the management of the artist Chris Seidler – the Blaubeerland.
Dr. Manfred Beck, the Gelsenkirchen councillor in charge of culture, education, youth and sport, opened the Blaubeerland festival and welcomed the children under bright blue sky.
There were plenty of activities for the children to get involved in, which would motivate them to make a creative contribution in many different ways. Many children, who under normal circumstances would have very little contact with art, now had a free opportunity to take a closer look at art as they played, including drama, dance and singing activities. The children rehearsed these together and then presented them on the open-air stage in front of their proud parents. However, the parents were also not spared and in Blaubeer-Olli’s dance section they had to join in, to the obvious delight of their children.
In any case, the children were rewarded for taking part. A “Blauro” was awarded for everything – for repeating a blue tongue twister without any mistakes or for hard work when serving blueberry cakes. Anyone who turned up at the Blaubeerland event in a costume was also awarded a “Blauro”.
Food and drink was only available if you could order delicious “Blaugemaudelte Blaumaudeln” or “Blaun” juice in the Blaustorant without making any mistakes.
Another point considered by the Blaubeerland organisers to be important was the interaction between art and nature. For instance, only natural colours were used to paint the children’s faces.
On Sunday the Blaubeerland festival came to a close, after two lovely and inspiring days for the children. It closed with a large finale on the stage, with all the artistes and children’s groups. So that everyone can enjoy the brilliant photos in the future, a film was made of the event and soon it will be possible to see this on our website.
The Peter Ustinov Foundation would like to thank all those involved for an altogether successful event. Particular thanks are due to the artistes Chris Seidler, Michael Lorenz, Stefanie Tietze, Herrmann Kassel, Mariola Balda, Mario Stork, Hasan Aldemir, Marc Oliver Höh and Beate Rafalski, whose efforts ensured that the children experienced some unforgettable days.
We would naturally also like to thank Ron Brockmeyer, the manager of the Ruhr children’s festival, for his active support, as well as the event sponsors, who joined with us to make the event possible. These are Minatur-Wunderland Hamburg, Michael Müller – Comedian, The Swinging Fanfares, Reisedienst Nickel GmbH and Stadtmarketing Gesellschaft Gelsenkirchen mbh.
