Jugendfest 2012

Ali dressed in her blue and white Lenzburg colors

It is late Sunday night and we are all exhausted from the past week's festivities.  It was our town's annual Jugendfest, aka Youth Festival and it was lots of fun.  It started last Sunday evening with a concert at the Schloss.  We sort of missed that event as we spent the day at the Wildnispark which required lots of walking and got back a bit late in the day, so we were all tired.  We were also unsure of the dress code since we had not been to an event at the castle, so we chickened out.  But starting Monday there was a "disco" every night for kids with different hours dedicated to different age groups.  From 6 - 7:30pm the younger kids could dance on an outdoor stage with instructors directing them.

Dancing at the Disco

We took Alison up on Wednesday night after the Rotary Club's community fish fry.  At first I think she was a bit shell shocked as I'm not sure she has ever seen that many kids in one place.  But after a few songs she started getting the hang of it and was soon in the middle of the pack dancing up a storm. It was really cute to see all the little kids dancing in rhythm.

On Thursday they started the rehearsals for the parade and maneuvers. Let me back up and explain what Jugendfest is - or at least my understanding of it.  It is basically a 400 year old tradition of celebrating the youth in the town.  It coincides with the end of the school year and the beginning of their four week summer break. There were numerous events going on throughout the week but I am just highlighting some of the ones we attended. In addition, the town was decorated to the nines, with all the fountains being transformed into various themes and just an abundance of beautiful flowers everywhere.  You could just feel the pride that every business, civic organization and towns person put into this event.  The whole town was just abuzz all week.

Drummers

We heard drumming around town for a few days and on Thursday night were able to see the marching bands practicing.  Alison's new favorite words "drums", "loud", "cannon" and "boom".  She really got a kick out of seeing and hearing the drummers.  That night our little town was transformed into a good old fashion street party with bands, street food and lots of partying.  That was the night we could hear classic American rock n roll from our apartment into the wee hours of the morning. In addition, a carnival/fair type atmosphere was set up (for the kids) complete with amusement rides. The kids fair and adult street party went on for a couple of nights.

The parade

The peak of the event is the formal parade on Friday morning.  All the school age young people dress in white, carry flowers and march through the town.  It sounds so simple but it was really quite beautiful and moving.   The days festivities culminate in an evening lantern parade for the children (they all make their own) along with an impressive fireworks display from the castle.

This year was extra special as it also included the open air maneuvers that they do every other year. Seriously we were warned of this but really had no idea what to expect.  Well for starters we heard the cannon go off a couple of times throughout the week.  It was hard not to hear it as it sounded like it was right outside our window.  Turns out it wasn't too far away as it was on the hillside of the schloss closest to our apartment. On Friday morning we were startled out of bed at 6am by the official start to the maneuvers which meant cannon fire every few minutes. Just as you would doze back off to sleep another "boom".  Luckily it only lasted for about 20 minutes and miraculously didn't wake up the kiddos.  The maneuvers is a celebration of the youth cadet corps that emerged in the second half of the 18th Century in Switzerland.  Back in the day it was a time honored tradition that offered a valuable learning experience for school age boys to learn military maneuvers as well as some type of social training.  Over the decades it went through many iterations but was officially disbanded in 1974 except for the every other year reenactments during the Youth Festival.  Today it is a strictly voluntary event that includes the students (boys and girls) as well as adults from the local civic organizations.  It basically looked like an excuse for everyone involved to get dressed up in some crazy costumes - everything from Indians, Arabs, chefs, pirates, kilts with bagpipes, you name it.  They basically got to dress up, run around with guns, march through town and reenact a fake battle out in a big field.  Sounds like a blast to me.



We didn't go and see the actual maneuvers that afternoon but we could hear it from our apartment.  We did wonder back into the town center later in the day to see all the different groups coming back from maneuvers.  That was a site to see and a treat for Alison as it was complete with more drummers as well as folks on horses.

Sadly it rained Friday night and the lantern festival was cancelled.  I am sure there were a ton of disappointed children as I saw some of their lanterns throughout the week and they were quite elaborate.  We did however watch the very impressive fireworks display from the comfort of our bedroom window.  It ended with what looked like fireworks cascading off the end of the castle.

Ali playing with other kids before the parade

I was so impressed with this display of dedication and honor for the youth in our town.  Fortunately one of the ladies at our playgroup on Monday told me that everyone gets dressed up for the parade especially the children and carry flowers.  Since she was helping make the arrangements for the children on her street, she made Alison a little corsage and bouquet of flowers which I thought was super sweet.  It was just a nice event and an amazing show of appreciation, not to mention just fun for the whole family.  Unfortunately Erik missed all but the fireworks display as he had been in Germany most of the week.  So hopefully he won't miss it next year.

In early August they will have another festival for the youth called the Gaulklerfest.  Which basically from what I have learned looks like several days of street artists, performers, comedians, etc. Again it is geared toward the young but has fun for all ages mixed in.  I love this town.

Well that is all from here this week.  Sadly my mom will be leaving, heading back to North Carolina in a few days.  We are all going to miss her very much around here.  And I am quickly going to learn what it is like to take care of two children completely on my own.  Erik is traveling out of town this week, leaving the same day my mom leaves.  If I don't post in a while you will know why.

Miss you all.

Enjoying the community fish fry

The local church beautifully decorated

Street party