Dresden banquet unites people from different backgrounds

On 9 September, Dresdeners, newcomers and guests will once again be able to chat over food and drink at a beer table over half a kilometer long across the Augustus Bridge. The eighth edition of the "Dresden is(s)t bunt" guest feast will connect the city's two banks of the Elbe for the third time. Interest has grown again and the event is fully booked with 280 tables, said Eva Sturm, director of the Cellex Foundation, which is in charge of the event. There was no more space on the Augustus Bridge and on Schlossplatz.

The banquet is "extremely important" in the current social situation, said co-initiator and Foundation Board Chairman Gerhard Ehninger. It "was and is a sign that cooperation, coexistence and celebrations between people of different origins work in this city" and makes the multicultural everyday working life of tens of thousands of employees in care, research and the semiconductor industry "visible and tangible".

Co-initiator: Saxony needs an atmosphere for immigration

The medical doctor and leukemia researcher called for an end to the political debate on limiting migration "regardless of losses". "Saxony needs immigration" and an atmosphere that makes this possible, regardless of gender, skin color, religion or sexual orientation.

The campaigners called on people to bring their favorite foods, try new things and share stories and thoughts next Monday. 111 cultural partners and 96 sponsors from business, research and administration want to ensure that people can dine, dance and play over the river.

Uniformed officers from the special task force and the city security service will be on hand, as the town hall announced on request. The police are also securing the banquet with additional officers - and have intervention forces on standby.

The "Dresden is(s)t bunt" banquet premiered in 2015 to counter the verbally loud protest of Pegida with the more quietly lived coexistence. It is intended to show that the city is and remains worth living in for those who come to the city privately and professionally from other parts of the world and those who have had to flee.