Intercultural Week

Trio of patrons

"This motto can be understood in many different ways", says the new trio of patrons of Intercultural Week 2025, consisting of Karyna Borodii, Anastasia Mironava and Björn Volmering.

"Bocholt stands for this, for an open society", adds Anastasia Mironava. People should participate on an equal footing - regardless of origin and faith. With the Intercultural Week in Bocholt, we are sending out a strong signal against discrimination and all forms of group-based misanthropy. We stand up for human rights and the humane treatment of all those who come to us and live peacefully with us.

"Bocholt stands for diversity and a strong democracy", emphasises Karyna Borodii. Diversity is the driving force behind our democracy. It is not something to be merely tolerated, but something to be actively shaped and promoted. To this end, with Intercultural Week in Bocholt, we are creating spaces - for dialogue, for people to come together, for breaking down prejudices, for mutual understanding and for the fun we have together.

"Bocholt stands for this, for solidarity and cohesion", says Björn Volmering, number three in the trio. "With the Intercultural Week in Bocholt, we are calling for courageous commitment in order to understand and tackle the upcoming challenges together. Rarely has solidarity been more important than right now. And nothing strengthens our society like our solidarity and mutual support!

"This year, we have once again succeeded - and this is, in particular, my own personal aim - in getting several clubs and organisations to work together to organise an event", reports Bruno Wansing, the City of Bocholt's Integration Officer.

For example, no fewer than seven organisations are involved in the Tea and Coffee Festival on 23 September. "We're absolutely delighted about this, as it means that intercultural dialogue comes into play right from the preparation stage of the events", emphasises Wansing.

Intercultural Week 2026 will open on 18 September with the World Children's Day celebrations. The event will take place at St Josef's Grammar School (Kapu) from 3 pm to 6 pm. "A colourful stage programme and lots of great creative and physical activities, all free to take part in, await young and old alike", according to the announcement.

That very same evening, as a sort of 'midnight tournament', an intercultural football tournament will take place for the third time. The venue remains the same; matches will once again be played in the new open-air hall on the TuB Bocholt site. There will be some changes to the format; ""we want to create an even more diverse mix than last year"%$, says Björn Volmering, who, as patron, is also personally overseeing the organisation, particularly with regard to the players.

We're looking for young people aged 16-25, both boys and girls. The format alone ensures that it will be a diverse event. Young people aged 16-25 who register in advance with Bruno Wansing (bruno.wansing(at)bocholt(dot)de) or Gül Balci (g_balci(at)gmx(dot)de) will be randomly drawn into mixed teams that evening, which will then compete against one another.

"Young people who may never have met before will come together in a team - it'll be just as diverse as Bocholt itself", says Bruno Wansing. The draw will take place at 10.00 pm, with the first match kicking off at 10.30 pm. Jusina e.V., the Afghan Hazara German Community Bocholt e.V., the Turkish Parents' Association, TuB Bocholt, EWIBO and the Integration Office have organised the tournament. ""It's less about sporting success and more about playing sport together, enjoying sport and fostering dialogue"," Wansing goes on to emphasise.