2019-07-20 Day 4 Europeade Festival at Frankenberg, Eder

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Around Europeade in Frankenberg

The day is already hot by 9.00am, we shower and breakfast outside in the shade. Today is the day of the Europeade Festival parade so we have a restful morning sitting outside our campers as a group reading, chatting and relaxing. An early lunch and then we put on our costumes.

Angelika (our guide who we never see!) has told us to meet her at 2.00pm at the Edertalschul (the school where we should have our meals) and where Mark and Shan are staying. It is a 2km walk for us and up hill. It is now hot and sultry, so we take it slowly. Alan finds the heat hard to cope with making him breathless as he climbs. We get there, very hot and sweaty in the heat, and meet the others who are sat at a table outside the small shop. Linda our musician is last to arrive as she comes from Marberg on the train. We sit outside the shop for 45 minutes and wait! There is always a lot of waiting at festivals.

At 2.45, Angelika takes us the final stretch up the hill to the start of the parade, for us our spot is just outside the cemetery. It is a good place with toilets and plenty of tree shade, it is now very hot. Angelika disappears and is not seen again today; someone tells me she has gone to walk with her other group! We all feel very irritated by her unhelpful ‘help’. Without her we would have found our place and lined up for 3.00pm. We all wonder why we were asked to meet at 2.00pm.

We are group 135 out of 204, we wait until 4.20pm before we start to move, so have spent two hours twenty minutes standing around. We can’t imagine what they are doing at the start. It always takes time for the train of people to move but this is ridiculous. When we do set off the route through the town is excellent.

We switchback downhill through the small streets, there are thousands of people lining the streets, sitting, standing, leaning out of windows, with cameras, phones, flags, waving and shouting encouragements. They are very welcoming to us the English group and many shout ‘no Brexit’! We wave and smile and wave and enjoy the afternoon. Two of the men in our group (Mark and Robert) emulate the East European flag throwing group parading in front us (their flags are huge). First, they work the crowd up, counting down in dramatic fashion, throw their tiny hand-held flags high in the air aiming to catch them, invariably dropping them. The crowd roar their approval, cheering and clapping and generally going wild and wanting more of this ridiculous charade. Alan has brought buttons with Union Jacks on, and Union Jack ribbon which he had cut into small (one inch) flags. We gave these away to the children on route (at least 100 of each). No one spoke English but were clearly delighted with their souvenirs.

All the time we are parading it is getting hotter, closer and more sultry. The sky darkened to navy blue and about 5.30pm thunder rumbled across the valley reverberating off the half-timbered buildings. Lightning flashed across the sky and as we reached the railway level crossing on the edge of town, large fat drops begin spattering on the ground (and on us). Within a minute it was pelting down.  We all run from the road (which had been closed for the parade) towards the pavement and the nearest building. For us, the Casino opened its doors and we all poured in. We were so grateful!

We cram inside the small reception area which immediately takes on the atmosphere of a party. The staff speak good English (and German) and accommodate a lot of wet people in a small space very well. We wait about 20 minutes to half an hour until and the rainstorm passes over. Some put clear rain ponchos on, I take my socks off and walk with just sandals and my white umbrella. We reform the parade again and continue on the road to rapturous applause form the waiting crowd (much reduced by now). The end of the parade and the marquee (our dining tent) is not very far. As we approach, the thunder rumbles around the valley again and there is more lightning. Sure enough, another deluge, worse than the first, pours down upon us this time with hail stones the size of grapes battering anything and everything in its path! We are almost at the door so hurry in with a mass of humanity pushing behind, all anxious to get out of the torrential rain. There must be 2,000 people inside.

We spread ourselves as much as we can. Those near tables sit and stay there. Within five minutes the musicians are playing familiar music, the women are singing… there is no room for dancing, so everyone joins in with the singing. The rain party has started. At the other end of the tent the sandwiches and fruit arrive and the crowd drifts in that general direction. We wait and chat and chat and wait. After about half an hour the rain has almost stopped. We decide to head back to the sportsplaatz, my long cotton skirt will dry and my sandaled feet are already wet. As we walk along the river, the last drops of rain stop and we walk back over the flooded pavements, the river which has risen at least a foot is in full spate and there is a tide of humanity walking back to somewhere.

It is about 7.00pm when we get to the camper and Alan makes G & T. Kath and Albert return and Maureen and Martin soon after. We gather on our chairs in the big space between the ours camper and Kath and Albert’s van. We drink G & T and our own concoctions together and spend another convivial evening chatting until dusk. We watch as the navy-blue clouds move away and the evening darkens.  At least there is no more rain.

Europeade Folk Festival Day 4

Summary of motorhome journey through Germany and France – no travel today

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