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MID-ATLANTIC KINDERFEST HISTORYTHE HISTORY OF THE

MID-ATLANTIC KINDERFEST

The Mid-Atlantic Kinderfest started with the goal of giving the youth of our area Vereine an opportunity to get to know one another, and to share dances and music with one another. In 1994, the Auerhahn Schuhplattler Verein had many young members, mostly between the ages of 6 and 10. They enjoyed dancing. They had attended and performed with the adults at the Gaufeste in 1987, 1989 and 1993. In 1993, they participated in the first Kinder Gauplattler at a Gaufest. However, children were only starting to attend the Gaufest and there was not very much mixing of the children of the different Vereine.

To encourage youth involvement, the Auerhahn Schuhplattler Verein decided to host a festival with the children in mind. The day started with a parade of the children holding simple signs with the Verein name on them. The children were given a handmade pin to commemorate the special occasion. The entertainment was a German band, carnival style games and a magician. All activities stopped when it was time for the Kindergruppe to dance (with adult assistance, when necessary). This encouraged the children to watch the others dance and they also were not missing any other activities while they were dancing.

The first year, 1994, approximately 60 children attended the Kinderfest. They represented 7 Vereine: GTV Edelweiss, Enzian Volkstanzgruppe, Germania Almrausch SV, United German Hungarians, GTV Almrausch, Auerhahn Schuhplattler Verein and Alpenrose Schuhplattlers. In 1995, even more children and Vereine participated; close to 120 children attended. It was very exciting to see a school bus full of participants from Delaware!

In 1996, GTV Almrausch from Philadelphia volunteered to host the Kinderfest. This was the start of this festival becoming the Mid-Atlantic Kinderfest. During this event, leaders of the Kindergruppe, with the help of the 1996 Gaujugendvertreter, Tommy Keith, established guidelines for a traveling Mid-Atlantic Kinderfest. Three main points were decided for future Kinderfest: 1. The festival must be fun for the children. 2. Minimal travel time for the majority of the Vereine. 3. The festival should be as inexpensive as possible for the attendees. At that time, the 3 main regions were established: Southern Region – Philadelphia and Delaware; Central Region - mid-Pennsylvania (Berks and Lancaster Counties); and Northern Region - Northern New Jersey and New York City area. The fest would rotate from year to year, region to region. A time for the fest was also established to be the weekend containing the first Saturday of June. The day of the fest, Saturday or Sunday, would be decided by the hosting Verein.

In 1997, the Mid-Atlantic Kinderfest traveled to GTEV Schlierachtaler Stamm. Thanks to sign maker Kenny Kasper and painter Elisabeth Elenis, this was the first year for official signs for each Vereine to carry in the parade. From there the fest continued to travel among the three established regions.

The Mid-Atlantic Kinderfest quickly grew to include over 15 different participating Vereine and close to 200 children from 5 different states. Each host Verein has added its own style of games and entertainment for the children. All have been a great success!

In 2010, the 17th Mid-Atlantic Kinderfest was hosted by Germania Almrausch SV in Poughkeepsie, NY. For the first time this traveling festival was joined by SG Alpenland Montreal. It was also at that Kinderfest the traveling commemorative scrapbooks were born! The host Verein purchased two books and many of the participating Verein brought completed pages filled with cropped photographs bringing back great memories of the past 16 years. It is hoped the past years will fill in and the memories be captured in the scrapbooks for years to come and shared by all.

Auerhahn Schuhplattler Verein is proud of the continuation of the Mid-Atlantic Kinderfest and wishes to thank everyone who has assisted in making it a great success for almost two decades!

MID-ATLANTIC KINDERFEST HOST HISTORY

1994 – Auerhahn Schuhplattler Verein, Oley, PA

1995 – Auerhahn Schuhplattler Verein, Oley, PA

1996 – GTV Almrausch, Philadelphia, PA

1997 – GTEV Schlierachtaler Stamm, Franklin Square, NY

1998 – GTV Edelweiss, Reading, PA

1999 – Enzian Volkstanzgruppe, Newark, DE

2000 – Bavarian Club Edelweiss, Westchester, NY

2001 – Alpenrose Schuhplattler, Lancaster, PA

2002 – United German Hungarians, Oakford, PA

2003 – Bayern Verein, Newark, NJ

2004 – Auerhahn Schuhplattler Verein, Oley, PA