Scheeßel is a place with a history of about 1200 years, situated on the edge of the northern Luneburg Heath (Lüneburger Heide), directly connected to Hamburg and Bremen by the main road (B75) and the railway line.
Beside Scheeßel's symbol, St Lucas Church, dating from 1755 to 1757, with its ancient lime tree in front, where court was held, there are more historic buildings worth seeing. One of them is a half-timbered former farm house called 'Meyerhof' which, along with its adjoining buildings, provides a most beautiful and rustic setting for the numerous international folk festivals.
Meyerhof' is the home of the Original Scheeßeler Trachtengruppe, host to many international folk dance meetings. Every two years, at the end of July and beginning of August, there are informal meetings of people from all over the world, in front of historic buildings under old oak trees.
Invitations are intended to be mutual. All guests are accomodated privately, which gives them an ideal way of getting to know each other. This has proved a great success throughout many years.
Taking part is possible for folk groups and bands from inside Germany and abroad with a maximum of 30 persons each.
The groups arrive from the Thursday before the festival weekend and leave the following Monday.
Scheeßel is ideally situated for excursions to neighbouring towns and cities such as Hamburg, Bremen, Stade, Celle, Lüneburg, and for day trips to Luneburg Heath, the North Sea, and the Baltic Sea; alternatively theme parks can be visited, e.g. Wildpark Lüneburger Heide, Heidepark Soltau, Vogelpark Walsrode, Freizeitpark Verden, Serengeti-Park Hodenhagen and Landpark Lauenbrück. These trips can be organized by us if desired, they must be financed, however, by the groups themselves.
The Friday evening before the festival is wholly dedicated to international understanding. After dinner, all guests and hosts (families included) come together at 'Meyerhof'. Each group performes a dance and encourages the audience to join in. This 'chaotic togetherness' enables people of different nationalities to get to know each other.
On Saturday morning, it is possible to visit small local businesses. In the afternoon, all the groups meet again to enjoy coffee and cakes – a good opportunity of consolidating new contacts and reviving old acquaintances.
In the evening at 7 p.m., the highlight of the weekend begins on stage. Here the groups get 10 to 20 minutes each for their respective performances.
On Sunday, there is a festive service in St Lucas Church at 9:30 a.m., followed by a get-together on the 'Meyerhof' premises, where each group must perform one dance. During this meeting, representatives of each group are invited to the official reception which takes places inside 'Meyerhof'. That's the moment for exchanging official gifts. After lunch, in the grounds of 'Meyerhof', the official stage programme begins at 2 p.m..
With your taking part in our international folk festival means you can make new friends and possibly meet people you have met at other festivals before. In order to keep the familiar atmosphere of this festival, no more than 4 international and 3 national groups ever take part. This system has proved over the years to be very successful.
Applications please to the end of the October preceding the respective dates of event to:
ORIGINAL SCHEEßELER TRACHTENGRUPPE
Katrin Klee Bahnhofstr. 10-12 D – 27383 Scheeßel Germany
Tel. (+49) 04263/5460 Fax (+49) 04263/5461
E-Mail: info@trachtengruppe-scheessel.de
The next Scheeßel Folk Festival Summer will take place on
16./17. Juli 2022
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