Luxembourg Fest returns this weekend

The 35th annual Luxembourg Fest of America will be celebrated in Belgium Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday, Aug. 14, the parade starts at 10 a.m. and heads west down Main Street to the festival grounds at Community Park, led by the traditional Hammelsmarsch (sheep march) that kicks off all Luxembourgish festivals.

The park will host the world’s largest treipen-eating contest at 11 a.m., and the Luxembourg Fest Street Market from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Samples of Luxembourgish beers, wines and ciders will be available through Ansay International’s “Taste of Luxembourg,” featuring

Patrick Berg of Luxembourg’s Domaines Vinsmoselle winery.  

Photos with the living statue of Luxembourg’s Gelle Frä, (“Golden Lady”) will be available, and people may brush up on their Luxembourgish with signs in the language scattered about the grounds.

Treipen sampler platters will be offered and frozen treipen will be available for purchase.

New this year is a caricature artist providing hand-drawn renderings of guests’ experiences.  

As part of the 35th anniversary, Luxembourg Fest will pay tribute to all families who have served as honored families and invite them to participate in the parade.

A car show will be held, and a photo exhibit by Ozaukee Press’ late photographer Vern Arendt will be set up for guests to identify the people in his vast collection of photos.

The Jolly Good Kids’ Zone for children’s entertainment will again be provided at no charge, with hay bales, balloon animals by Mary Macaroni and magic and illusion shows by Glen Gerard at 12:30 and 2 p.m.

Division BMX will perform, and music will be provided by Chicago’s Devon DeLux, Sheboygan’s Nitro Five and headlining act Star Six Nine, led by Belgium native Melissa Prom. Advance tickets are $8 and at the door are $10.

Sunday will be reserved for the Luxembourg Fest polka Mass at 10 a.m., followed by the Luxembourg Fest pageantry, where the Duke and Duchess of Fest, Pat and Rhonda Krier, will be crowned.

Chairs will be set up but people are welcome to bring their own if they want to spread out.

Live polka music by the Goodtime Dutchmen will continue beyond the service. Lunch includes a menu of American picnic fare and treipen.

For more information, visit www.lacs.lu.

Luxembourg ambassador to visit

This year’s fest includes the first visit to Ozaukee County by Luxembourg’s new ambassador to the United States, Nicole Bintner-Bakshian.

She arrived in Washington, D.C., last Saturday and is being hosted by Mike Ansay, honorary consul of Luxembourg in Wisconsin, and the Luxembourg American Cultural Center.

Bintner-Bakshian will participate in fest activities, meet Luxembourg American Cultural Society Board members, tour Luxembourg heritage sites in Ozaukee County and attend meetings facilitated by Ansay regarding economic initiatives, including a Luxembourg start-up investment fund, and future plans for the New Luxembourg Village Square in Belgium.

Bintner-Bakshian studied at the University of Luxembourg, the European School of Management in Paris, Oxford and Berlin, and the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok. She has represented the Luxembourg government in Islamabad, Dehl, Manila, Beijing and Bangkok.  She previously served as Ambassador of Luxembourg to the United Arab Emirates and most recently as Ambassador of Luxembourg to Senegal, Burkina, Faso, Mali and Niger with residence in Dakara, Africa.

Bintner-Bakshian is married to an American and has two daughters.