Circus holiday in Nettetal: A blogger reports

During the Easter holidays, blogger Beatrice Confuss and her family stayed at Nettetal-Hinsbeck Youth Hostel and took part in the Holiday camp „Manege free“ part. In their Blog the mum-of-four tells us all about her experiences and how she and, above all, her children enjoyed it.

As it was the family's first time taking part in a holiday camp in a youth hostel, everyone was pretty excited. Some were excited, others sceptical. But in the end - and this much can be said in advance - everyone was delighted and resolved to come back next year.

A short summary of the holiday week

When they arrived at the youth hostel, the family first moved into a spacious six-bed room with a view of the circus tent, which visibly delighted the youngest daughter in particular. Once the suitcases were unpacked, the family explored the building and the large outdoor area of the youth hostel. At the dinner that followed, all participants were welcomed by the „circus director“, who also announced the first circus session in the evening. Well-fuelled, everyone was able to try out the artistic activities - juggling, acrobatics, wings (a dance with „wings“), magic, rope skipping, fakirs, equilibristics, clowns, unicycling and balancing on the balance beam. Arriving in the circus tent, Beatrice's children first noticed that a large group of people with various disabilities were also taking part in the leisure programme. It should be mentioned that the leisure programme is explicitly aimed at young and older people with disabilities and that they have been contributing to the success of the leisure programme for many years. Even though Beatrice's family are no strangers to people with disabilities, the children were still a little apprehensive. However, a detailed family discussion was able to open their minds, so that everyone was motivated to start training the next morning. Everyone quickly or less quickly found the right circus act, which was rehearsed over the course of the week.

Over the next few days, however, the participants not only put their circus talents to the test, they also designed and painted their own circus shirts, had a disco evening, a games evening and a night walk. On the last afternoon, it was finally time to clear the ring and the big circus gala took place, which Beatrice wrote about in her blog:

„It wasn't enough that big and small people with and without disabilities had a lot of fun together in the few days, now everyone was in the circus ring together. A truly colourful company with different skills put on a unique circus show. And the unbridled joy of all the participants! The smallest tricks became huge successes, mobile phone handicaps became strengths. Little ones were really big and big ones were wonderfully silly. This colourful mix is all too rare, but it's a real benefit for everyone. I would say that all participants learnt something and grew.“

We thank Beatrice for these beautiful words and the great and very private insight into this holiday week. You can find the detailed report on her blog: www.beatrice-confuss.de.