“Through the festival, people from many different backgrounds and many different regions are brought together because music connects us, just like bridges do.”
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
Friends of wind band music,
And guests of our city,
From the 20th to the 22nd of September 2019, the district Bad Schlema will turn into a center of wind band music once again. Over the course of three days more than 60 concerts will be played on two stages in a marquee with 4.000 seats. On top of that there will be two big parades with 1.000 participants each. The accomplishment of organizing and carrying out this event was one of the main reasons the town Aue-Bad Schlema qualified for the Tag der Sachsen 2020. At this point I would like to thank the organizers and everyone who helped with making this event possible and complement them for what they have accomplished.
The marquee will be located at the Halde 65 in Bad Schlema going forward. The redevelopment is coming along well. Since January 2018 the mining waste heap has been leveled down, and once it is finished the developed area is supposed to be used. The launch of the Wismut project was in January 2018. Just recently an administrative agreement about the redevelopment of former Wismut mining sites was signed. This makes projects similar to ours possible in the upcoming years.
The Wind Band Festival is unquestionably one of the annual highlights in our city besides the Auer Stadtfest (city festival). The event exists since 1992 and was renamed to “Europäisches Blasmusikfestival” (European Wind Band Festival) in 1998. By now it even developed into a “Festival mondial or rather international”.
With the participation of the South American band “La Estrella” last year, which brought young light-heartedness and Columbian rhythms, the festival kept up with the times while still holding onto traditions. The different wind music genres represent the diversity of this music from Europe and the world. Visitors are presented with a wide musical spectrum featuring Swing and Big Band sound as well as Folk music and arrangements of modern Rock and Pop. Through the festival, people from many different backgrounds and many different regions are brought together because music connects us, just like bridges do. I wish you all a lot of enjoyment on three exiting festival days!
A warm Glück Auf!
Heinrich Kohl
Lord Mayor of the city of Aue-Bad Schlema