Festival of youth in Salzburg
The Festival of Youth in Salzburg is a Christian youth festival on Whitsun in and around the Salzburg Cathedral in the city of Salzburg . The festival has been held annually by the Loretto Community since 2000 .
history
Some young people from Salzburg were so enthusiastic about the Catholic youth meeting in Pöllau that they wanted to hold a similar event in Salzburg. They were supported by the then Archbishop Georg Eder and so the first Catholic youth meeting in Salzburg with around 100 young people took place at Whitsun 2000. The following year, over 300 young people came to this meeting. Initially, this Whitsun meeting took place in the auditorium of the University of Salzburg . As the number of participants increased every year, the meeting was moved to the Kollegienkirche . In 2011 almost 3,000 young people took part in this festival, the collegiate church became too small for this number. That is why the Festival of Youth has been celebrated in Salzburg Cathedral since 2012 . The number of participants is still rising sharply and around 7,000 young people were counted in 2016.
Almost half of the participants are young people between the ages of 12 and 18. Most of the other participants are young adults between the ages of 18 and 30. However, some young families also take part in the youth festival. The participants come from all Austrian federal states and from over 20 nations, such as Germany , Switzerland , Italy and Hungary . They are housed in several Salzburg schools.
procedure
The youth festival begins on Friday evening with a musical written, rehearsed and performed by the youth themselves. The archbishop of Salzburg will then open it . On Saturday morning there is a Holy Mass in the cathedral, praise, lectures, workshops and in the evening a so-called evening of mercy in the cathedral. There is Eucharistic adoration and priests offer confession and discussion all evening . The demand for this is so great that the queues for confession stretch back to the entrance to the cathedral. Quiet worship music, candlelight and incense envelop the cathedral in a very special atmosphere on this evening.
On Sunday, the young festival participants celebrate the Pentecostal high mass with the Salzburg church service visitors and the cathedral choir. On Sunday evening the young people and the Archbishop move to the Hohensalzburg Fortress to pray for the city, the country and above all for peace.
The festival of young people ends with the confirmation of numerous young people on Monday morning.
The focus of the whole weekend is on common prayer, exchanges with one another and, above all, the community of young Christians.
organization
The youth festival is organized by the Loretto community. Over 300 young volunteers are involved in the organization and preparation. Construction begins in the week before Pentecost. The young volunteers in the cathedral remove the benches and lay the floor with red carpets, because there is room for a lot more people sitting on the floor in the cathedral than in the rows of benches. When visitors come to the cathedral during the festival of youth, they are presented with a very special view of the interior of the cathedral: a large stage has been set up in the front area of the cathedral, there are numerous spotlights and screens and thousands of young people sit on the floor Clap praise music. In addition, a large tent will be erected on Domplatz in the days before the festival, in which the festival visitors will find snacks, information and, above all, a live broadcast of the festival. Many of the young people are not only involved in the structure and organization, but also in a leading role, for example in giving lectures or workshops.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Michaela Hessenberger: 7,000 young people flock to the Whitsun Festival in Salzburg Salzburger Nachrichten, May 14, 2016
- ^ Meeting of the Loretto community: 7,000 came. ORF Salzburg, May 16, 2016