30 March 2019: CELEBRATION OF THE “FRANCOPHONIE DAY” IN BERLIN

This beautiful sunny day offered a good opportunity to hundreds and hundreds of Berliners to travel,  in a few hours to the various French-speaking countries thanks to the celebration of the “Fête de la Francophonie” at the  “Centre Français de Berlin”, which focused on the theme: “our cultures of solidarity”.

 This year, Switzerland and Burkina Faso chaired the event. 35 Member and Observer Embassies of the Organization have been engaged in the cultural, economic, tourism and culinary promotion of their countries. In this respect,  the success of Madagascar’s information and culinary stand is well known since visitors invaded the stand throughout the event.

Various activities punctuated this Day celebration in order to satisfy everyone: make-up, dance and music workshops, stories and illustrations for children, a RFI club debate on the theme “Solidarity between cultures, what are the prerequisites for a solidarity exchange? “, films, cartoons, concerts, photo exhibitions, animation by two DJs. The whole range of activities amazed and delighted the audience until dawn. The questions of the Quizz were also of particular interest to children and young people, the finalists and winners were rewarded with prizes from each country, including Madagascar.

Before and after the official opening speeches, musical bands from Swizerland and Burkina Faso enlivened the stage, mobilizing the two Ambassadors to participate heartily in the dance.
Madagascar has always been very active in its participation in the celebration and promotion of the Francophonie in and around Berlin. This also makes it possible to introduce Madagascar to young Germans during the presentation of the Big Island directly in schools. School visits are still planned in the coming months.

Finally, the Day was a great opportunity to announce the official opening of the “Maison des Francophonies”, which, according to the Malagasy culture, would be the equivalent of a “Tsimialonjafy” House, belonging to all, open to all, and offering a platform, a meeting place for peoples and cultures.