Signs from Dresden - Hundreds at diversity banquet

Music, a babble of languages and food from near and far: Hundreds of people turned the Dresden Gastmahl into a cheerful and colorful festival over the Elbe for the eighth time on Monday afternoon. Along a table almost 600 meters long on the Augustus Bridge between Altstadt and Neustadt, locals, newcomers and guests of the city sampled their favourite dishes that they had brought, donated or received as gifts. At tables sponsored by 280 companies, cultural institutions and initiatives, as in previous years, people also tinkered and played, chatted and discussed, made music and danced, puzzled and recited.

Political celebrities also on the move

Political celebrities from Saxony also chatted at the stands in the sunshine and clouds. It was one of the most beautiful events in Dresden, said Minister President Michael Kretschmer. Organized by civil society, different cultures come together, "everyone is nice to each other, it's just great". Culture Minister Barbara Klepsch placed a platter of Fettbemmen with gherkins on one of the beer tables and spoke of an "incredibly strong image that our society needs more than ever". Mayor Dirk Hilbert was delighted that Dresden was sending out a signal of a peaceful community. Culinary encounters, conversations, celebrating together, "this is how we imagine our life together".

In line with the organizers' call, the participants tried out new things, exchanged stories and thoughts and laughed together. 111 cultural partners and 96 sponsors from the worlds of business, research and administration ensured a lively atmosphere, while uniformed officers from the public order office and police ensured a disruption-free festival.

The "Dresden is(s)t bunt" guest feast premiered in 2015 to counter the then verbally loud protest by 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.

"How nice it is when people come together peacefully, eat together, get to know each other or meet again, it could always be like this in Dresden," said co-initiator Gerhard Ehninger from the leading Cellex Foundation and appealed: "Get to know people and the hatred will subside."