The World Gymnaestrada 2007

The World Gymnaestrada 2007 is drawing near. In 2 months time this event will be held for the 13^th time. This year, Dornbirn, is the lucky city to host this fantastic event.

What is a Gymnaestrada?

There are a lot of people that have no idea what this event is all about. The idea behind the Gymnaestrada is to celebrate sports and to come together. 23.000 – 27.000 people from over 57 countries will gather in Dornbirn to create memories that they will not forget, as it is bound to be a great success.

The Gymnaestrada is the biggest gymnastics and dance event in the world and is held every 4 years.
Like I said, around 25.000 participants will gather in Dornbirn to participate from the 8th until the 14th of July. It is not a competition, but it is a week where you will see several countries perform massive group demonstrations, as well as smaller clubs from different countries.

There will be a big Opening Ceremony that will be held in Sport Stadium Dornbirn. Here you will see several countries perform a routine with a huge number of people. Around 1000 people per country participate in the routine. This routine can be anything. You can see dancers, gymnasts, tumblers etc. It is always a surprise what you are going to see as each country has a unique way of mixing these things together. After seeing the several performances you know that you’re in for a unique week full of beautiful demonstrations.

Is it still unclear? It probably is.

To give you an idea of what the week is going to look like; here is a schedule. I will elaborate on the mentioned activities.

All groups will, after their traditional marching-in, line up in their national dress on the pitch of Dornbirn’s Birkenwiese Stadium.
After the official Opening Ceremony about 2,000 gymnasts from the entire Lake Constance region will display the theme of the World Gymnaestrada 2007 - the four elements " water, air, earth, fire" - in a 40 minute show.

Group performances will take place daily from 9am to 6pm in eight halls of the Dornbirn Trade Exhibition Centre from Monday 9th July to Friday 13th July 2007.
In each hall there will be stands with seating for 1,000 spectators. Groups of 10 gymnasts or more will present their 10 minute and 15 minute shows. A total of more than 1,000 performances will be offered to the public from dance displays to acrobatic shows, with or without apparatus.

Highlight of the 13th World Gymnaestrada will be the National Evenings.
Two halls will be available at the Trade Exhibition Centre in Dornbirn from Monday 9th July 2007 to Thursday 12th July 2007. The Trade Exhibition Centre Hall 6 has seating for 4,000 and Hall 8 seats 1,500. In every hall there will be two National Evenings.
The following countries are going to present in a very creative way the characteristics and peculiarities of their countries using dancing, gymnastics, acrobatics and also theatre elements in a one and a half hour show. ( look below for the schedule )

		Fair Stadium (Hall 6)	Ernst Mathis Hall (Hall 8)

Mon, 9th July	18.30	Austrian Evening	Greek Evening
	21.00	Nordic Evening	PAGU Evening

Tue, 10th July	18.30	Swiss Evening	Baltic Evening
	21.00	Swiss Evening	German Evening

Wed, 11th July	18.30	Portugal Evening	South African Evening
	21.00	Brazilian Evening	Italian Evening

Thu, 12th July	18.30	Japanese Evening	Dutch Evening
	21.00	Japanese Evening	Evening for English speaking countries

v Large Group performances

Large group performances will take place in the Reichshofs Stadium, Lustenau.
The Stadium is located near the Swiss border – about 4 kilometres from the Trade Exhibition Centre. For visitors there will be a bus service and catering in the "Gymnaestrada-Dorf".
Performances will take place on Tuesday 10th July from 1pm -6pm and on Thursday 12th July from 10am to 3pm. So far 22 large groups from 12 different nations have registered for large group performances.
Large groups consist of 200 gymnasts or more. Some countries will come with up to four large groups to the Reichshof Stadium. Switzerland alone will turn up with 1,500 gymnasts for the large-group performances.

The Closing Ceremony will be followed by a farewell party and will take place at the same location. There will be music, bands playing live and other kinds of entertainment. It will be possible to buy food and drinks. Once more, all participants will get together at the closing party with the motto:

„come together and we will be one“

Come together and we will be one!

This is the slogan for the 13^th World Gymnaestrada. And I can’t think of a better one. I have been writing all about the performances and the countries that are participating. But what makes the Gymnaestrada so special, is that everyone is happy, excited and eager to meet new people.

It is so easy to get in touch with people from different countries. Just go to them and have a chat and a laugh. It really is that simple. This is what creates that special atmosphere that so many participant talk about. You feel no pressure for your performances, because there is no competition. After you have done your routine you can go see the ones from other clubs or have a drink somewhere. You can also enjoy the country you are in or you can go shopping. Whatever you do, enjoy yourself!

I still find it hard to explain the feeling you get when you are in the middle of it, but when so many people are doing the thing they like most, it is truly a great experience. It is one big party where everybody has fun. If you get the chance to participate or even visit a Gymnaestrada, please do. You won’t regret it.

More info at www.wg2007.com

Go to www.wg2007.com à downloads à video clips for some nice video’s.

Kind regards,
Tarik

I'm from O&O Zwijndrecht, The Netherlands. The club itself has been participating for a very long time and this will be my second time attending the Gymnaestrada the first one was Lisbon in 2003. I hope to provide you with reports and pictures from the event so check Gymbrooke Sports News for future updates.