"The Afro-Pfingsten have an eventful history"

Every year, Winterthur is transformed into a multicultural festival site over the Whitsun holidays, where Afro-Culture is celebrated: The lively atmosphere at the Afro-Pfingsten Festival is unique - from concerts, market stalls and workshops to panel discussions, art exhibitions, film screenings and parties, everything is included. Angelina Schlegel, Head of Communications at Afro-Pfingsten, gives you a deeper insight into this legendary festival. festival.  

When and why did the Afro-Pfingsten start and how have they developed in recent years?
The Afro-Pfingsten has been around for over 30 years and has an eventful history: the festival was held for the first time in 1990 at the Dynamo in Zurich on a small scale with a concert and a few workshops. From 1991, it took its place in Winterthur, where the market was added a year later - still rather small. Over the following years, however, Afro-Pfingsten became bigger and bigger. At the beginning, the focus was on Africa, as the three founders were very interested in Africa and its music. This had not yet been the case in German-speaking Switzerland. Over the course of time, the festival was expanded to include different cultures and regions of the world and is now a multifaceted experience.

What is different this year than in previous years?
If Corona has taught us one thing, it's how important flexibility is. The last few years have been characterized by planning uncertainty and change. So we also had to remain flexible at all times: Dhis year, for example, due to our last-minute move from the Reithalle to the Salzhaus Winterthurwhich required us to pull out all the stops. There have also been various changes in personnel. This will certainly also be noticeable through certain new program items that are now part of the festival.