Colors of Leverkusen - traditions, festivals, mentality and lifestyle

Leverkusen was formed as an industrial city and even today its industrial potential is actively developing. It got its name in honor of the famous entrepreneur Carl Leverkus who decided to open several enterprises here more than a hundred years ago. Such specialization does not prevent the historic city from living a rich cultural life. Today's Leverkusen is a famous tourist center and venue for interesting festivals.

Every autumn, the city hosts the International Jazz Festival, which is participated by performers from all over the world. During the festival days, dozens of concerts take place in the city every day, many of them are free. Musicians perform in local cultural centers, pubs, and open-air venues in city squares and parks. For several days, the city turns into a real musical extravaganza. Besides concerts, visitors can enjoy meet-and-greets with famous musicians and other themed programs.

No less interesting and symbolic for Leverkusen is the annual Beer Fair, participation in which is considered very prestigious. The history of the fair is equally interesting - the idea to organize it belonged to the owner of a local dance school. He asked his students who had visited various countries to bring popular local beers from there. Young dancers completed the task, their teacher threw a noisy party where everyone could try popular foreign beers. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

He organized such parties for almost 20 years, and subsequently, the holiday began to attract visitors from other regions of Germany. In the early years, the dance teacher visited different countries himself. He went to local supermarkets and wrote down the addresses of famous breweries right from the bottles. Each year, he invited beer factory owners from various countries to his fair. It took about 20 years to gain the festival's current popularity and prestige.

Today, more than 70 breweries operating in different parts of the world take part in the beer festival on a regular basis. During the fair, its participants can taste more than a thousand varieties of beer, as well as taste the most popular regional delicacies. During the fair, special stalls are set up on the streets. Each of them represents the beer of a certain country or region. Brewers from Portugal, Singapore, Belgium, France, and other countries join the holiday, all of them offer their best beer varieties for tastings.

At the fair, you can try very unusual types of beer with cherry, raspberry, cucumber, and even coconut flavors. Now the festival has a very rich and interesting program, its participants donate to charity projects and help raise funds for their cities' improvement. Tourists will be invited to visit some old breweries in the vicinity of the city, as well as watch how the best beers in the world are made.

Such holidays have a very cozy, warm atmosphere in Leverkusen. When the festival is in full swing, any boundaries between locals and foreign visitors are completely erased, everyone is having fun and enjoying their favorite drinks at one table. It is noteworthy that townspeople also encourage their children to participate in this kind of holidays. For them, they brew special non-alcoholic fruit beers, which taste more like ordinary lemonade. On the sites where the beer festival is held, they install funny carousels and other rides for kids and their parents.

Throughout the year, Leverkusen hosts a lot of interesting themed and historical holidays. The city has preserved an old hunting castle that has been operating as a full-fledged cultural center in recent years. It serves as a venue for historical reenactments and carnivals, during which one can see actors and ordinary locals wearing chic old costumes. Over the years, the small industrial city has turned into a unique cultural center, thanks in large part to cheerful and friendly residents.

They are always happy to welcome guests and are actively interested in the cultures of other counties, demonstrating their own historical traditions in the most exciting and attractive way. Large factories, the main city-forming elements, continue to work near the venues and historic areas where beautiful holidays are held. Leverkusen is a vivid example of a city whose industrial orientation didn't become an obstacle to the development of its regional culture.