Every year for a couple of weeks during May the Mayweek Festival takes place in Osnabrück. With more than 650,000 visitors every year the Mayweek is the largest open air festival in northern Germany.

During the May Week fortnight there are many different stages set up all across the city centre and more than 120 artists play all kind of music to entertain the crowds. The wide variety of music means that everyone can find something to enjoy. Famous artists as well as local bands perform across the city. Alongside the music there are a variety of food and drink stalls where visitors can meet up with friends and enjoy the Maibock, a beer especially brewed for the Mayweek Festival, or the delicious Maibowle, a wonderful mix of white wine and strawberries.

The Lord Mayor of Osnabrück and the town's Beer King officially open the festival. Every year delegations from Osnabrück's twin cities come to see the opening ceremony. Each twin city envoy prepares their own showcase day with acts from their hometown and 2007 was no exception as Rachel Szczekala, the Derby Envoy, reports:

"After this first weekend and the departure of our delegations, the work of myself and the four other Envoys here in Osnabrück was not over. It is our job each year to organise the "twin city days" during this festival. This part of the May Week was kicked off by Angers Day on Wednesday 16 May with a folklore group who sung and danced and drew in the crowds despite the unfortunate rain. Thursday 17 May was Twer Day which was packed full of Russian music from traditional songs through to upbeat pop tunes. Friday was the turn of the Haarlemers with a Dutch cheese stall, a large barrel organ and the band "De Schuimkragen". Saturday was Canakkale Day with entertainment provided by a choir and a children's dance group who wowed the crowds with their belly-dancing skills plus Rapsilah, the well-known Turkish rap group.

This year Derby Day was on Sunday 20 May, the last day of the May Week and I was lucky enough to have some really great acts. My first group was the Light Cavalry Band. The band was formed in 2006 and has played for the Sultan of Brunei's 60th Birthday celebrations and also at the Buckingham Palace garden party! They were over in Germany for six weeks to support the British forces over here and much to my delight, agreed to come up to Osnabrück for Derby Day. They put on a fantastic performance playing all sorts of music ranging from James Bond themes to German folk songs... at one point to everyone's amusement two of the musicians even emerged playing a watering can and a toilet!

Next came the Pipes and Drums band of the Osnabrück Royal British Legion. They always put on a brilliant show and lots of people gathered to listen to the bagpipes. Seventy three children from Derby School (one of the British Forces schools here in Osnabrück) took to the stage for an hour after this with a varied programme including a rock band, a recorder group and a choir singing songs from the famous musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat!

The absolute star of the day though was Rammie, the mascot from Derby County who had kindly agreed to come to Osnabrück to help out with Derby Day. On the day before, Rammie and I were invited to watch a VFL Osnabrück match and Rammie presented the club with some signed Derby County goodies and in turn received some gifts from VFL Osnabrück which helped further the twinning links between the two cities. We had a fantastic day and in keeping with the football theme I organised a penalty shoot-out competition for Derby Day where the children had the chance to win a signed Derby County football and T-Shirt by scoring goals past Rammie. He was a great hit with the children with over 100 having a go at shooting footballs at the blow-up goals."

To enable the citizens of Derby to experience the delights of the May Week Festival the Osnabrück Envoy organises an annual coach trip to give people the chance to explore the twin city and soak up the carnival atmosphere. The itinerary for the May 2007 visit is set out below:

Wednesday 9 May 2007

• Meet at the Assembly Rooms car park at 6.30pm
• Depart from Derby at 7pm on luxury coach equipped with toilet, fridge, drinks and DVD facilities

Thursday 10 May 2007

• Approximately 10am arrival in Osnabrück
• Check in the Hotel Residenz, followed by free time. The Hotel is an easy 10 minute walk from the Festival area
• Meet the group at 2.45pm in front of the Rathaus (town hall)
• 3pm Civic reception with the Lord Mayor of Osnabrück
• Guided city tour through Osnabrück with Derby Envoy
• Evening meal

Friday 11 May 2007

• Meet in the hotel at 8:50am
• 9.30am to 12noon: Karmann visit. Wilhelm Karmann GmbH in Osnabrück is the largest independent company in the motor vehicle industry in Germany. Over the course of more than a century they have undertaken various roles, from design to production, for various well-known car manufacturers including Chrysler, Porsche and Volkswagen. Karmann is best known today for its work on cabriolets. It provides roof-components for many of the cabriolets we see on our streets today.
• Free time
• 6pm: Opening of the Mayweek
• Time to experience the delights of the Mayweek Festival

Saturday 12 May 2007

• Daytrip to Bremen. Bremen is a Hanseatic city in the Northwest of Germany. It is a port city situated along the River  Weser. Bremen is one of two towns belonging to the state of Bremen, the other being Bremerhave.
• Guided tour in Bremen and time to explore Bremen alone
• Return to Osnabrück
• Free time to experience the delights of the Mayweek Festival

Sunday 13 May

• Daytrip to the Museums village in Cloppenburg. The open-air museum of Cloppenburg is dedicated to the rural culture of lower Saxony with original buildings from the 16th to the 20th century. The Cloppenburg Museum offers an intriguing insight into traditional crafts and trades of the region and illustrates various aspects of domestic, social and cultural life.
• Guided tour through the village
• Lunch at the restaurant in the Museums village
• On the way back to Osnabrück stop for a coffee break at Dümmer See. Dümmer See is a large lake, popular with water sport enthusiasts. It is also frequented by migratory birds and a large part of its shore is protected as a nature reserve.
• Back in Osnabrück around 4/5pm then free time.

Monday 14 May

• Time to check out of the hotel
• Visit to the Zoo, everyone can stay as long as they like
• Free time
• 7pm departure from Osnabrück (from Hotel Residenz)

Tuesday 15 May

• Around 9am arrival in Derby

The cost of the 2007 visit was £250 per person for a double room and £295 for a single room. The visit was enjoyed by all taking part and here is a personal insight from David Redfern one of this year's participants:

"17 people signed up for the twinning trip to the Mayweek festival this year. It was my sixth visit to Osnabrück but my first since 2004, so I was looking forward to reacquainting myself with Derby's twin city and seeing what changes have taken place there over the last three years.

We arrived in Osnabrück after the usual overnight coach journey from Derby at 11:00 am on Thursday 10 May and checked into our hotel for the next five days, the Hotel Residenz Café on the south side of the city centre. Our first excursion was to undertake the short journey to the Town Hall for our Civic Reception, and to meet the new Lord Mayor of Osnabrück, Herr Boris Pistorius who had taken over from Hans-Jurgen Fipp the previous autumn. Following this, a guided tour of the city centre by the Derby Envoy, Rachel Szczekala. Later that evening we met up at a local restaurant called "Riva" where we enjoyed a stir-fried meal and some good conversation.

After a good night's sleep, the group headed off on the Friday morning to the local car manufacturer, Karmann for a guided tour of the works, which was impressive. We saw old many old-timers and how cars are being produced.

Returning to Osnabrück, we then headed back to the Town Hall for the opening of the Mayweek festival by Derby's very own Beer King, Les Baynton, who performed the ceremony with his German counterpart, Gambrinus Ferdinand Wöhrmann. It was then time to stroll through the city centre, listening to the various bands and sampling some of the traditional German food and drink that was on offer for the rest of the evening.

Saturday dawned, and after breakfast we walked to the railway station to catch the train to Bremen. This was a double-decker train, which allowed some good views of the countryside from the upper deck as we sped along the track. Bremen was very busy as both an important football match and the local elections were taking place that weekend. The market place was full of TV outside broadcast vans and football fans! Bremen has some very nice architecture, including the Town Hall and the "Schnoor", an area of narrow, winding streets similar to the "Shambles" in York. There is also a delightful promenade alongside the River Weser. Upon our return to Osnabrück the delights of the Mayweek festival awaited us.

On Sunday morning we boarded a coach to take us to the open air museum of country life, near Cloppenburg. This consists of buildings such as farmhouses and windmills etc which have been dismantled and brought to the museum from all over North-West Germany. Here they have been re-erected to give a picture of rural life in Germany several centuries ago. After a guided tour and lunch we then set off for the Dümmersee, a large inland lake which although being several square kilometres in size is approximately only 1 metre deep. After time for a stroll and a coffee our coach returned us to Osnabrück and the evening's attractions.

Monday was our last day in Osnabrück and we headed off to the Zoo where there is a large collection of animals, including a new section on African species. I was pleased to see that the animals are kept in large enclosures with plenty of room to move around. During the afternoon I opted to return to the city centre for a delicious ice cream sundae and finally some shopping. Sadly it was then time to leave and we boarded our coach back to Derby, arriving home just before 7:00 am on the Tuesday morning.

It was good to be reacquainted with friends from the previous twinning trips, such as Petra Diesel (a previous envoy) as well as meeting new people. It was interesting to see the changes that have taken place in Osnabrück over the last three years; however one thing that has definitely not changed is the friendly nature of the people who live there. Once again we were made to feel very welcome, relaxed and part of a large family. Although we did have some rain during our visit, this in no way spoiled any of our activities. A very big thank you must go to our superb organiser, Theresa Michel for arranging everything in such a smooth and friendly manner. If you have ever thought of joining the Mayweek trip then I can wholeheartedly recommend it, you won't be disappointed!"

In 2008 the Mayweek Festival in Osnabrück will take place from the 1 to 12 May. If you would be interested in going on our mailing list for this event please contact our twinning office on telephone 01332 255816 or email us twinning@derby.gov.uk. Alternatively please call into the Council House and ask to see the Osnabrück Envoy, Lotta Imeyer.