Tens Of Thousands At Anti-Xenophobia Concert In Dresden

Huge crowds have gathered in Dresden for a free concert promoting tolerance and diversity. The event seeks to provide a counternarrative to the anti-Islamization PEGIDA group.

So many thousands of people gathered in front of Dresden's Frauenkirche, the city's famous baroque church, for a concert promoting tolerance and diversity on Monday evening that police and event organizers were forced to close the square and direct would-be concert goers to the nearby Schlossplatz.



The event - "Open and Colorful - Dresden for Everyone" - was set up to counter the idea of Dresden as the city of PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West). The right-wing umbrella group which has been holding weekly marches since October 2014 to protest what they see as the increasing influence of Islam in Germany and lax immigration policies from the government.







Choosing Monday night was strategic: PEGIDA normally holds their rallies on Mondays, and had to switch to Sunday this week because of the concert.



"We want to show that Dresden is cosmopolitan, tolerant and diverse, and we endeavor to be warm, chiefly in our hearts," said Gerhard Ehninger, a member of Dresden - Place to be.



Most of the performers have shared messages of tolerance and engagement with foreigners, rather than criticize PEGIDA directly. Though the band Yellow Umbrella did comment, after playing their song No PEGIDA.



"It is difficult to have a conversation with PEGIDA. People say: 'The world is round.' But the PEGIDA member then says 'but not according to my opinion.'"



According to event managers, the crowd which had gathered on Monday outnumbered PEGIDA's most famous January 10 rally, which had drawn more than 35,000 people.



Big name artists perform



The free concert, organized by the group Dresden - Place to be and financed by the city, has brought some of Germany's most-beloved artists to the stage.



The biggest name was Herbert Grönemeyer, who international audiences might know from his starring role in Wolfgang Petersen's war epic Das Boot. His 2002 pop album Mensch is also the best-selling record of all time in Germany. All of the artists are performing free of charge, according to the organizers.



In between performances, videos with messages from Dresdeners, refugees, and immigrants are being shown.



Placards bearing flags from all around the world were passed around, and the audience gladly waved them aloft, reported the regional newspaper Sächsische Zeitung.



es/kms (AFP, dpa)