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Armidale to get international golf tournament

November 25, 2004

ThumbGerman Consul General.jpgAn International Golf Tournament sponsored by BMW will be held in Armidale next year to kick-off a German Festival, the Consul-General said during his visit to the University of New England today (Thursday, November 25).
Dr Günter Gruber, German Consul-General for NSW and Queensland, is visiting Armidale to promote business, cultural and sporting links between the two countries.
Part of his brief is to help organise a German Festival in Armidale which could be the "prototype" for similar events across Australia. The week-long Festival, planned for March 12-19 next year, will start with a golf tournament. The tournament will bring together top golfing players and tee-off will be at the Armidale Golf links on Saturday, March 12. The official opening will be on Sunday at NERAM with a reception co-hosted by the Consul General, Armidale City Council and NERAM.

There will be a week of activities both in town involving local businesses as well as at the university. Well known director Barbara Albury will stage the drama Woyzeck. Other highlights of the Festival include a poetry reading in Armidale Mall and lectures by UNE academics, Professor John Moses on Germans in Australia during World War I and World War II and Dr. Janice Wilton on Germans in the New England region. There will be other cultural, educational and sporting activities - something for everyone.
The German Festival Week will conclude with a soccer tournament, followed by beer and umpah music. Running throughout the week will be an exhibition of German cars, a poster competition for school students and an exhibition of German products. On of the highlights of the soccer day will be the drawing of a raffle with a major sponsored prize.
Since accepting his post in Sydney in July this year, Dr Gruber has already travelled to Armidale twice and hopes to visit again before the German Festival in March.
Dr Gruber is working on the Festival together with Dr Kerry Dunne, a Senior Lecturer in German at UNE and her colleagues, Associate Professor Herman Beyersdorf, Dr Linda Hess-Liechti and Dr Andrea Schalley.
"Dr Gruber came to UNE last August to attend the opening of our International Film Festival," Dr Dunne said.
"He was impressed by our enthusiasm and thought Armidale would be a good place to start a festival which would spark a series of other events in Australian cities such as Newcastle, Wollongong and Brisbane."
She said the events would build interest in Australia for German goods and culture in the lead-up to the FIFA World Cup being held in Germany in 2006.
Meanwhile, Dr Gruber was particularly interested to speak with local business people, including Armidale Dumaresq Chamber of Commerce, and to discover other existing links with German industry. "Also, Germany is the third largest economic power in the world, specifically, we have a world-class technology industry. We need to promote this since many people think about China, India and the US, but not necessarily Germany."
He met with Professor David Brunckhorst, from UNE's Institute of Rural Futures, to discuss links between German business and research projects at UNE.
On a lighter note, Dr Gruber is also interested in local wineries that specialise in producing German-inspired wines.
Said Dr Gruber: "A lot of people tend to view Germans as austere and serious, whereas we love having fun".
For more information phone Lydia Roberts on 6773 2779 or Dr Kerry Dunne on 6773 2335.


Posted by Lydia Roberts at November 25, 2004 04:42 PM