Trakai. Friendly encounters, an inspiring festival program and constructive discussions about the resumption and continuation of joint projects: A delegation from the city of Rheine returned from the “Trakai summer 2024” festival with many positive impressions. Deputy Mayor Fabian Lenz, accompanied by Irja Erben and Rainer Ortel from the board of the city partnership association, had made their way to the Lithuanian twin city, which they reached after a complicated journey with an involuntary overnight stay in Frankfurt after a 20-hour journey on Friday lunchtime.
In addition to the delegation from Rheine, the Lithuanian partners had invited delegations from eleven other twin towns from Poland, Ukraine, Georgia and another German twin town.
The festive program included a large parade through Trakai, led by numerous dance, music and folklore groups and attended by the delegations from the twin towns. The delegation from Rheine was joined by Stefan Ross from Rheine and his friend Lucas M. from Warsaw, who had both traveled privately to Trakai to help celebrate the festival. Numerous market stalls, concerts, dance groups and choirs offered thousands of guests an inspiring three-day program of superlatives. A highlight of the three-day festivities was the night-time laser show over the castle of Trakai, which was watched by many thousands of guests and met with long-lasting applause.
The delegation from Rheine also used the visit to Trakai to hold purposeful talks about opportunities to continue and intensify joint projects. There is great interest on both sides in the areas of youth exchange and the implementation of projects in the field of art and culture. A conversation with the management of the art school in Traki (see photo!) highlighted the great interest in an exchange with Rheine, in particular for continuous exchanges between German and Lithuanian musicians and artists from various fields of the visual arts. The Rheinenser will discuss these suggestions and agreements with the local players in Rheine and are confident that new projects will be implemented in the near future. “We really live the friendly partnership with Trakai. We are looking forward to initiating new projects based on the many ideas and suggestions we took home with us,” said Deputy Mayor Fabian Lenz, drawing a very positive conclusion from the trip.