Although it is still noticeably cool, up here in the north we had quite a bit of sunshine, and in comparison to many other parts of Germany too little rain!

 

Thanks to the many hours of sunshine and a steady breeze the 17th Kite & Circus Festival was a real crowd puller. Nice to see there are events like this here in Butjadingen.

 

It would have been more successful still if the people in charge had not sectioned off the entire beach area with barriers! If you just wanted to get to the water´s edge, you had to settle for a small, unattractive portion of the Tossens beach (as I've read, it was the well-used dog beach - full of unsavory piles) - or pay the full admission fee for the festival.

 

This may seem a very naive question: Why do they have to take admission at all? If they had more booths and vendors, maybe even an antique and flea market and carousel or the like - couldn`t the whole thing be financed through the booth fee? There would most certainly be more visitors who just want to have a look around - who in the end still leave their money there! For who would stroll across a market like that on such a beautiful, holiday weekend without buying a delicious fish sandwich and a beer or ice cream for the kids? And since you have saved money on the entrance fee, you can afford to spend some on goodies :-) And no more anger and frustration about a blocked off beach (maybe I am mistaken here - but weren`t Butjadingen beaches just recently described as "unique" because NO admission will be taken?).

 

With the hope of many warm and sunny days to come...

Stephanie Lake 31.05.2010