FESTINORD 09

FESTINORD...means Party in the North...and that's exactly what the youth aged 18-31 had 31 July in Denmark. In all, 21 countries were represented.
The youth had a full weekend of activity as the pictures will show only for a few hours one day. They had dances, mostly chatted, played games, and made plans for next year! This day they donned the typical yellow vests (along with orange jackets from the Roads Division) and picked up litter on the highways. It got lots of media coverage.

John was able to put an article online Church News. Our friends who oversee the country Public Affairs (known as NDPAs or National Directors of Public Affairs) are Jesper and Mette. They were gung ho! The papers and TVs ran stories about these 500 youth who got together...not for sex and alcohol...but truly to make a difference in the community. They had 11 newspapers and 2 TV programs to the best of my remembrance.

The kids were all great. One fellow was on crutches but he clambored onto the bus just the same. They were all so helpful. They had to make their own lunch beforehand or miss out until dinner. The dining hall was organized chaos. And I used to have my hands full with 5 children. Whew!

It was grey skies. In fact it opened up and poured for awhile. One group of kids ran for shelter in what they thought was a barn; only to find it was someone's home. They were welcomed inside. This was not a light rain. Another group sought shelter in a nearby store till the rain stopped; but each person bought something to make it worth while crowding the store.

I can't remember how many pounds of litter they gathered. John and I wondered because it is so clean in Denmark anyway. We had already remarked on how clean the by ways seemed. But officials were impressed that the youth were on their hands and knees getting the little stuff...cigarette butts and such. It was exciting being a part of this great day.