Hundreds of people experience a rousing celebration of inclusion at the Lokschuppen

500 enthusiastic guests and 150 performers celebrated the sixth EINklang Festival in the Saarlouis district at the weekend. A wide range of genres, from pop to classical, was presented on stage at the Lokschuppen in Dillingen.

The excitement before the performance – sometimes mild, sometimes intense. That moment on stage when it’s time to go. The thunderous applause afterwards. The feelings of joy that flood through your body. Around 150 artists, both with and without disabilities, were able to experience all of this on Saturday at the inclusive EINklang music festival. The district of Saarlouis had organised the event for the sixth time – and around 500 guests made sure not to miss this very special spectacle at the Dillinger Lokschuppen.

“With our EINklang festival, we highlight what inclusion means and show just how much fun we can have together, and how wonderful and enriching all these performances and encounters can be. EINklang simply makes people happy,” District Administrator Patrik Lauer had promised right at the start. A statement that everyone present that evening could certainly agree with. Standing ovations, a sea of swaying phone lights, countless people in the audience dancing or bobbing along – the festival proved once again, in impressive fashion, that emotions are of the utmost importance here.

For months, a cross-departmental team, under the organisational leadership of Christine Ney, Head of the District Office for Social Services, had been preparing for this major event. The festival’s artistic director, Kolja Koglin, was responsible for the engaging and varied programme. He brought 15 acts (see info) to the stage, including many familiar faces, but also some new ones. For the first time, there was an EINklang headliner – the Saarland-based singer-songwriter and content creator Philipp Leon (a semi-finalist on The Voice of Germany), who, together with Tim Theobald and the entire line-up during the finale, as well as performing solo with an original composition and three cover songs, thoroughly thrilled the audience. His conclusion afterwards: “The EINklang Festival left a deep impression on me. The zest for life, the emotions and the musical diversity of the performances were simply overwhelming. On this evening, barriers were overcome that, sadly, still exist far too often in everyday life. What made it special for me was that you could hardly sense any differences, because art brought everyone together and suddenly only one thing mattered: our shared joy in music.”

Another new feature of the musical programme was that a member of the Saarland state government took to the stage as a singer: Health Minister Dr Magnus Jung performed the song “Kannst du pfeifen, Johanna?” together with Simon Meyer. As is traditional at EINklang, singers from the Polish partner district of Bochnia also performed once again; this year, the district of Saarlouis is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its partnership with Bochnia. The event was hosted by Jessie Ziegler (Saarländischer Rundfunk) and Kolja Koglin.

Koglin, who also provided musical accompaniment for the performers alongside the inclusive EINklang band, had even written his own song for the festival (“Wir sind eins”). He performed this for the first time on stage together with the REHA choir “Wir sind wir”. For him, EINklang is a “labour of love” and a real highlight – both musically and on a personal level, he said: “The energy and zest for life that are palpable on stage from the very first moment and spread to the audience are the greatest reward for the many months of preparation.”

EINklang was once again held under the patronage of Saarland’s Minister-President Anke Rehlinger, who attended the festival evening. Anke Rehlinger: “Music brings people together. That is precisely what makes EINklang so special. Here, inclusion is not just talked about; it is lived out with great joy, passion and dedication. The festival shows just how enriching our differences can be and how much we have in common when we reach out to one another. The Special Olympics this year have already demonstrated just how much solidarity, openness and enthusiasm there is in our Saarland. EINklang carries this message forward and makes it clear: inclusion should be a matter of course in our everyday lives. My heartfelt thanks go to everyone who, year after year, puts their heart and soul into making this special festival possible."

The venue, the Dillinger Lokschuppen, was, as always at this festival, made accessible to all. Sign language interpreters and live captioners were on hand. The town of Dillingen had made the hall available. Mayor Christian Finkler emphasised that he was delighted that Dillingen was once again hosting this event: “When people with and without disabilities make music together at the EINklang festival, it becomes clear just how natural it can be for us to come together. My special thanks go to everyone who took to the stage and thrilled the audience with their music.”

District Administrator Patrik Lauer paid tribute to the many partners, sponsors and all those involved, both on stage and behind the scenes, who had made this event possible in the first place. The festival was supported by Saarländischer Rundfunk through its radio stations SR 1 and SR 3 Saarlandwelle, as well as by SR Television. Other partners and sponsors included CROWN, Nemak, the Kreissparkasse Saarlouis, the Minister-President of Saarland Anke Rehlinger, the KVS Saarlouis, the town of Dillingen and the AWO Saarland.

Café Courage from Dillingen once again took care of the participants’ catering; Petra Jenal and her team from the ‘Ehrensache’ support association in Altforweiler also provided concert-goers with snacks and drinks in their usual reliable manner, just as they had done at previous festivals.