The district of Düren. Lots of sparkling children’s eyes could be seen on Sunday, 11 September at the Brückenkopf Park in Jülich, where the district invited both young and old to its 50th birthday party. Under the motto of “Yesterday – Today – Tomorrow”, around 8,000 visitors enjoyed a colourful and diverse day full of music, games, fun and sport.
Lots of toddlers were in front of the stage as the stars of the children’s channel hosted the programme throughout the day and egged everyone on to dance, celebrate and have fun. They were helped by the TV characters Kikaninchen, Bernd the Bread and Wiki the Viking among others and they ran through the entire Brückenkopf Park and made children laugh. Sport was the focus a few metres further on: the Bundesliga professionals from SWD Powervolleys Düren bounced a few balls back and forth with children and adults on the beach volleyball court. This was a rare opportunity that many made the most of to learn a few tips from the professionals.
As well as bouncy castles, can throwing and high striker there were many play stations and also interesting information on the development of the district, because a lot has changed in half a century – and due to the structural transition a lot will continue to develop. Visitors could gain an impression of the municipality projects and goals and catch a glimpse of the future. The district of Düren is set to grow and aims to have 300,000 inhabitants in the coming years. Visitors were able to gain their own impressions of this growth campaign by the district of Düren and express their wishes for the future. (Do this digitally as well until 10 October at (bit.ly/UmfrageWachstumsoffensive).
The children from the Düren district were very creative in expressing their desires and wishes for the future: in a summer painting campaign organised by the district of Düren, around 200 children each painted a canvas to create a large unit, and the finished sail was presented at the family festival. Most of the children wished for peace and happiness and painted this in lots of bright colours. “A big thanks to all those who took part in the painting campaign and created such a valuable, colourful sail with great wishes. It ideally reflects the district of Düren and what it stands for,” said District Administrator Wolfgang Spelthahn, who was also pleased to see so many guests at the family festival. Local dance groups and performances by the bands Brass für Spass, Miljö, Raderdoll and Schachmatt rounded off the day in terms of music, which came to a close at 8 p.m. in Brückenkopf Park.
