POSTED: Monday June 6th 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MUNICH SHOWS ITS COSMOPOLITAN FACE

Multicultural celebrations give another taste of Munich 2018’s Festival of Friendship

Munich, 6 June 2011: Bavaria demonstrated this weekend exactly why Munich 2018 promises to be a Festival of Friendship for visitors from all over the world, with over 350,000 people coming to southern Germany for two days of vibrant cultural celebrations.

The weekend’s festivities were the latest illustration of Bavaria’s unrivalled capacity for bringing people together in a warm, cosmopolitan and celebratory atmosphere. The city of Würzburg staged the eleventh edition of the Africa Festival, Europe’s biggest carnival of African and Caribbean culture. 100,000 people travelled from across Europe to experience food, film, music and art. Munich’s annual Streetlife Festival attracted a quarter of a million international visitors to the streets of the Bavarian capital.

Katarina Witt, Chair of the Munich 2018 Bid Committee, said:

‘We are delighted to have welcomed so many people to Munich and Bavaria this weekend as it has been a fantastic opportunity to celebrate different cultures with people from all over the world. Our international guests just love that friendly, carnival atmosphere that is synonymous with the region. Bavaria’s proud tradition of warmth and hospitality would provide a really unforgettable backdrop for a Winter Games. Munich 2018 hopes to get the chance to share our unique culture of celebration with the Olympic family and millions of sports fans in 2018.’

Over the years, Würzberg’s Africa Festival has drawn over 1,710,000 visitors. Added to Munich’s record-breaking tourist figures for 2010 - 105 million visitors - the multicultural festival is further proof of Bavaria’s enduring appeal to international visitors. 

Today is exactly one month before the IOC Session in Durban, South Africa, where the IOC will decide on the host city of the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Preparations for the Bid Committee’s final two presentations to the Olympic family - in Togo this month and at the IOC Session in Durban on 6 July - are progressing very well indeed. This weekend provided another timely taste of what Munich 2018’s Festival of Friendship promises for the Olympic Movement.

Background
Munich, in collaboration with Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Berchtesgadener Land, is applying to host the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The application will be put together and managed by Bewerbungsgesellschaft München 2018 GmbH, with Katarina Witt as Chair, Bernhard Schwank as CEO and Jürgen Bühl as Managing Director. Shareholders in the application organisation are the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) with 51 per cent, the City of Munich (30 per cent), the Free State of Bavaria (nine per cent), the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (eight per cent) and the district of Berchtesgadener Land (two per cent). The bid is being supported by national sponsors Adidas, Allianz, the BMW Group, BayWa, Deutsche Bahn, Deutsche Post, Flughafen München GmbH, Lotto Bayern, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, METRO GROUP, and the Sparkasse Finance Group, along with national suppliers ARGE (Albert Speer & Partner and PROPROJEKT), Deloitte, Getty Images, GfK Verein, Hubert Burda Media, IMMO 2018, Messe München GmbH, Norton Rose LLP, Munich Olympic Park, pilot sport and Stadtwerke München GmbH. More information about the concept, the progress of the application and many other aspects can be found at http://www.muenchen2018.org/en.

Bewerbungsgesellschaft München 2018 GmbH
Munich 2018 Bid Committee
Olympiapark München
Spiridon-Louis-Ring 21
80809 München

Responsible for contents:
Bernhard Schwank and Jürgen Bühl

Press Contact:
Simone Seefried
Agnes-Pockels-Bogen 1
80992 München
Telephone: +49 89 540428-317
Mobile: +49 176 840 532 26
E-Mail: presse@muenchen2018.org

Online Press Area:
http://www.muenchen2018.org/en/press

# # #

---

Keywords · Munich 2018 · IOC · Thomas Bach · Katarina Witt · Bernhard Schwank · Africa Festival

---

Name: Simone Seefried
Organization: Munich 2018 Bid Committee
Email:
Phone: 4989540428317
URL: http://www.muenchen2018.org

---

Please refer all questions to the company listed above issuing the press release. SFC will not be able to assist you with any inquiries and disclaims any content in these press releases.