20th Christmas in Europe

The Gavella theatre, a few minutes walk from the Zagreb hotel school, needed just the morning of Monday December 9th to transform itself into an international playhouse thanks to the Cultural Programme, another of the three facets of Christmas in Europe.

And indeed it was the cultural component of the programme that occupied all the delegations that morning. Each one had brought along with them a sketch, a song or a dance routine to illustrate some tradition of their home country. In Zagreb there was a very large audience because the pupils from the nearby school had been invited to the show, which was as colourful as it was varied. Depending on the performance, there was loud applause from a receptive and enthusiastic audience, who, what is more, had never before experienced such an eventful programme, that was both thoroughly international and highly concentrated!

Views of the audience in the Gavella theatreViews of the audience in the Gavella theatre

Zagreb - Croatia - sketch Ponta Delgada - Portugal – fado Prešov - Slovakia - dance Orebro - Sweden - Santa Lucia Szeged – Hungary - danceBad Ischl – Austria – chant Lund – Sweden – sketch Kuressaare – Estonia – dance Budapest – Hungary – danceSenigallia – Italy – sketch Almeria – Spain – song and danceMaribor – Slovenia – music Sliven – Bulgaria – dance and solo classical dancePodebrady – Czech Rep. – song Bled – Slovenia – sketch Bjelovar – Croatia – declamation Marseille – France – songRiga – Latvia – sketch Diekirch – Luxembourg – sketch

As an added treat, to close the show, the big bell from Bled was rung to wish the all the audience a Merry Christmas and to express the hope of seeing everyone again in Bled for Christmas in Europe 2012.  What a fine ending, greeted with much applause in this pretty little 400-seater theatre.

The bell from Bled came to invite the participants to Christmas in Europe in 2012 – in Bled of course!