03. December 2022  
Las Palmas, ESP  
BLUME-Festival

Great Success of the 60th BLUME Anniversary Festival in Gran Canaria

... the "Maker" in the midst of the festival hustle and bustle

It was more than a stone of relief that fell from the souls of the Canarian festival organisers after the complicated times of the pandemic restrictions, "although we had more than wished for it in our secret dreams" ... summed up the chief organiser of the 60th BLUME Festival Gran Canaria, Jesus TELO RODRIGUEZ, relieved:
"Because indeed, for our 60th Festival anniversary, the significant number of about 400 gymnastics friends from 9 nations travelled to Gran Canaria! Who would have thought that at the beginning of the year ...? It was with a big heart that we wanted to regain our traditional normality, meet our gymnastics friends and enjoy the diversity of our sport.

The International BLUME-FESTIVAL - a very proud Tradition of Canarian Sports!

"After a forced break of two years, the lively spirit of our "Festival with Heart" was to be reborn at BLUME GRAN CANARIA. Admittedly, we also had slight doubts about being able to offer this event with the necessary internationality and its logistical dimension again, especially at the 60th anniversary.

Today, however, after successful event, we are very happy to have felt the special "BLUME GRAN CANARIA flair" and the family atmosphere with all our senses again. We were able to feel the special BLUME GRAN CANARIA cordiality and interpersonal contacts again as intensively as before, also at the 60th anniversary, just as we had developed it for decades."

♦ This was especially noticeable at the reception of the international delegations in the exclusive "Royal Club Nautico" of the island capital Las Palmas de Gran Canaria ...,

Thanks of the Island Government for the decades of work of the Telo gymnastics family.

... by the guests' gratitude articulated there and the unique and lasting support of the Canary Islands Government, whose representative Maria de los Angeles Ramos Guillen particularly highlighted the historic lifetime achievement of the Canary Islands Gymnastics Family TELO.
<< Photo, left.
For the appreciation of defacto six uninterrupted festival decades refers to the emergence of a unique and annual winter festival in the European sports and cultural calendar, which offers guests and outdoor actors unique stages, action areas with high tourist quality.
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→  ... and so the Festival-Chief Jesus TELO RODRIGUEZ sums up further:
"This BLUME GRAN CANARIA history speaks for itself!
In these 60 years, more than 175,000 people have performed at the festival, including former world champions and Olympic champions in their "golden age". The children have always been there, from newcomers to teenagers or even the oldest active gymnast in the world in her 10th decade, Johanna Quaas, from Germany! Whether individualists, small ensembles or large groups with over 100 participants - everyone finds their place, everyone can take part.
We are especially proud of the more than 15,000 foreign guests from all 5 continents, from over 70 countries!
How could my father, Jesus TELO NUÑEZ (> deceased 2008), who was the founder of our festival tradition, have thought at our beginnings in 1960 that in the meantime more than 5,800 German gymnasts alone have performed at BLUME GRAN CANARIA.
Joaquin BLUME, the four-time Spanish ex-European gymnastics champion with German roots, who tragically died in an accident and to whom this festival is dedicated, could certainly be very proud of his legacy today, because he showed Spain a way back then that has become a beautiful reality today.

Besonder stolz sind wir auf die über 15.000 ausländischen Gästen aus alle 5 Kontinenten, aus über 70 Ländern!
Wie hätte mein Vater, Jesus TELO NUÑEZ (> verstorben 2008), der der Begründer unserer Festival-Tradition war, bei unseren Anfängen 1960 daran denken können, dass inzwischen allein über 5.800 deutsche Turnerinnen und Turner beim BLUME GRAN CANARIA aufgetreten sind.
Der tragisch verunglückte vierfache spanische Ex-Turn-Europameister Joaquin BLUME mit deutschen Wurzeln, dem dieses Festival gewidmet ist, könnte heute sicherlich sehr stolz über seine Erbe sein, denn er hat Spanien damals einen Weg gezeigt, aus dem heute eine wunderschöne Realität geworden.

Great thanks are also due to the many Canarian helpers, at the top our long-time sports teacher and trainer CORNELIO from Gimnasio Las Palmas or also the patient crew of our BLUME office in the Beverly Park Hotel of Playa del Ingles, who have to find friendly words and problem solutions for all logistical questions of the participants (* photo, right >) , like e.g. our Yetemba Santana Mendoza, called "Yeti" (right) or Fransisca Santana Rivero, called "Paqui" (left) or Anja Miesner (centre) from Bremen (GER), who manages the Blume secretariat in four languages (!) and has to find an answer to (almost) all everyday questions of the festival participants.

And so such' proven organisers of the internationally staffed workshops as the prudent German Traude KELL ...

... or Germany's Ex-Gymnastics Professor Dr. Detlef Schmidt (photo, above, left) are proven and indispensable logistical supports of our workshop programmes with their numerous lecturers and instructors - so internationality also here on all levels - that is also part of our BLUME Festival philosophy!
Thanks to ALL !!!
We are looking forward to the next, the 61st BLUME GRAN CANARIA




Kind regards, CD BLUME GRAN CANARIA
Jesús Telo Rodríguez
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