Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Kappesfest Rheindahlen 2011

Last Sunday it was Mothering Sunday in Germany and there was also something going on in one of our little towns nearby. It was called Kappesfest, and I had to look it up in my dictionary to understand the significance of the word. It means [White] Cabbage Holiday! Kappes could also mean [to talk] nonsense, rubbish. What a day, eh? We knew there was a staty of a farmer with three or so different vegetables in front of him, being part of the statue, or should that be called an installation these days? We simply had to investigate.

On our bikes through the countryside we came across some horses with cool shades.

cool horse

When we arrived in the square there was some cooking demo going on up on the big stage in front of a whole square full of beer drinking, wine drinking and sausage etc. eating people.

Cooks Kappesfest Rheindahlen 2011

Otherwise a medieval theme was running through the stalls all around the little town centre, among them a baker who seemed to having done a lot of quality testing of his own products.

Baker Kappesfest Rheindahlen 2011

Some young maidens/ladies needed a rest on the church steps after all their earlier work.

Tired maidens Kappesfest Rheindahlen 2011

In a corner of the main area we came across some birds of prey and their handlers, who let courageous people even hold their feathery friends. You needed more than an oven glove to feel safe!

Merlin 02 Kappesfest Rheindahlen 2011 Merlin 01 Kappesfest Rheindahlen 2011 Merlin 03 Kappesfest Rheindahlen 2011 (Merlin)

The eagle owl was a bit scary and heavy, so nobody took that challenge.

Eagle Owl Kappesfest Rheindahlen 2011 (Eagle Owl)

Then all of a sudden we heard music from the stage and we quickly joined this crowd.

Dance Audience Kappesfest Rheindahlen 2011

What was going on?Jive, jitterbug and rock ’n roll! A group of middle age amateur dancers were getting everybody’s attention with a fiery and energetic display of supple elasticity. They really went for it; arms flying, legs jumping, skirts twirling and some cheeky smiles.

Dance 01 Kappesfest Rheindahlen 2011 Dance 02 Kappesfest Rheindahlen 2011 Dance 03 Kappesfest Rheindahlen 2011

Dance 04 Kappesfest Rheindahlen 2011 Dance 05 Kappesfest Rheindahlen 2011 Dance 06 Kappesfest Rheindahlen 2011

They were having a ball (sorry for the pun) and the audience had a wonderful time, as did we. Many cameras were out, but I was the only one crawling around, ducking to stay out of the way, with a long lens on an SLR, trying to catch the spirit and the agility of the dancers. I have only put up a very few of my photos here, but I hope these reflect what we experienced in Rheindahlen on Sunday. In order to avoid offending people I refrain from displaying some of the more “revealing” images, although they did not seem to mind showing both this and that! Great day out, good fun.

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