20th Festival of Europe
Published on
By Carlo Peano The Europe Day is not a public holiday, so in Brussels the celebration takes place during the weekend with the Festival of Europe. This year it will occur on Saturday 12 May from 10 am to 6 pm. On 9 May 1950, the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman read to the international press a declaration.
He proposed – to France, Germany and the other European states – to pool the coal and steel production as a first step of a European Federation, in order to avoid a third World War. This declaration – known as Schuman Declaration – is considered as the first step towards the European Union. For this reason, during the Milan Summit in 1985 the European leaders decided to celebrate that day – 9 May – as the Europe Day, the annual celebration of the Peace and Unity in Europe.
The European Commission will organize visits to official buildings, debates, dance, street art and music events on the esplanade in front of the Berlaymont. In addition, music band and singers will play all day long: Swing a Jo, Foreign Affairs, Bossa Flor, Indecision, Xamanek. The Suarez and Friends’ show will closed the festival at 5.30 pm.
On the other side, the European Parliament will organize the "Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations Village" at the Esplanade Solidarnosc 1980, where several organizations and associations will present their activities for promoting active ageing. Furthermore, at 10.30 am citizens will have the opportunity to participate in a debate about active ageing in the hemicycle of the European Parliament. Lastly, there will be the concert of Ruth Flowers aka Mamy Rock – the famous 69 year-old British DJ – at 5.30 pm in Place Luxembourg.
So there are all the ingredients for having a great Saturday, have fun!