Third week & the great Foodsharing Festival
The third week brought us a visit to the last big festival of the summer season, the foodsharing festival in Berlin. For this festival, we had to make a long trip by bus, which although it could have been more spontaneous and free of money in the best hitchhiking style, and with more adventures, we finally decided for the comfort of a bus to transport the technical equipment more safely. But, that is important, the return trip to Munich was much more improvised and fun but unfortunately not documented in our fieldwork. For the trip to Berlin we already had some previous contacts, so we had a place to stay during the first nights before the festival. The alternative space that we got thanks to friends, was like a maze in an old house with unoccupied spaces that can be offered to travelers and friends. We also managed to borrow some bicycles for city tours and festival days. With the bicycles we were able to visit the most recognizable places in the city, the commercial and tourist parts, which as anywhere in the world, shows the ants in their daily routines. Then, we decided to sit down a little to observe, comment and criticize this society. The next day the festival was already beginning, and together with other volunteers, we were before the beginning of the event, preparing the spaces and organizing the last details. The food arrived non-stop for a few hours, and all this came to the storage. From that beginning we could already see the abundance that this festival would bring, at least in the subject we are working: Foodsaving. In this sense, the participants of the free event were living a luxury of vegan organic food for the next few days. All organized voluntarily among the participants, we had 3 daily meals in addition to snacks and drinks. Thus began the festival with a Disco Soup in which we all put our hands and we could have a great welcome dinner.
During the festival, similar to the KlimaCamp meeting, several workshops, talks, conversations, documentaries on the most varied topics were offered simultaneously, mainly related to the main theme of the festival: "Wertschaetzung" (Appreciation). We also had a small market of initiatives, in which several projects and ideas could be presented, continue with networking and we even had a free clothing store organized by green peace, where each participant could also deliver some clothes or take what they liked.
Accommodation for most people was in tents, although the nights were already quite cold. So, a participant decided to sleep on a friend's bus, and a tent and sleeping bag were also available for us. And the same owner of the bus, at the end of the festival was able to fill half of his space with Food to distribute them later in his hometown, in addition to taking Fausto half the way back to Munich.
Back in Munich, we took part in the Critical Mass Cycling Tour as we do every month. This time also with a little activism and solidarity with the other activists in the Hambach forest (Ende Gelände). As always, it was possible to share food and drinks at the stop, and always with the cheerful tone of party, we toured the city on bicycles, escorted even by the police, and claiming back the public space, respect for alternative mobility.
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