Not much wind but a lot of fun for the children

Last Saturday, 20th September, 2014, saw Universal Children’s Day celebrated in Germany and this year the Lions Club Oberursel-Schillerturm had come up with an event together with the town’s “Kinderbüro”: a Drachenfest. And since this year is the year of the twinning anniversaries, it turned into the “1st International Oberursel Drachenfest“.

Drachen is the German word both for a kite and a dragon, and both were present on the field at the end of the Platanenstraße in Stierstadt where the festival took place. One part of the field was roped off for kite-flyers, where the “Drachenclub Aiolos” from Rodgau soon had the first kites in the air and some larger models on the ground, including a dragon-shaped one.

Unfortunately the weather did not play along and so there were not only heavy showers during the day, but a thunderstorm as well. The wind was only slight, so that only a few children used the opportunity to fly their kites.

But kite-flying was not the only activity on offer. The town’s daycare facilities had got together with a number of organisations to offer all sorts of things for the children to do. The dragon and Chinese themes often played a role, for example children could have their name written in Chinese or try and knock over the dragon tins by throwing balls at them.

One airborne alternative to kite-flying was being offered by the youth section of the Red Cross, who were holding a balloon-flying contest. The children attached a postcard with their name and a address to a helium-filled balloon and sent the pair flying skywards. The three children whose balloons fly the furthest will receive prizes from a local shop.

And with the weather being so wet, the black tent belong to the Scout Group “Graue Bären” was particuarly popular, being not just dry but also warm thanks to the fire in the middle of it.

One international element was the choice of food available. The Lions Club were offering tarte flambée, Café Portstraße had Turkish specialities and the day-care community “Nest-Werk” had Dutch poffertjes on offer. The Seniorentreff added a generation dimension to things and had a stand with waffles, coffee and cakes.

The other international element was on the stage. The day began with a dragon dance performed by the Chinese school. Later the African drummers “ImPulse” made several appearances.

Before the day Alderman Christof Fink had said that he hoped the day would be “unforgettable”. For the children, who had a fun-packed day and went home tired, they probably won’t forget it too soon, even if thanks to the weather their kites remained on the ground.