Meinl festival moves on to Poland

Meinl has announced that next year’s Meinl Drum Festival will be held in Warsaw, Poland. 

The exact date of the event, venue and line-up are not yet confirmed but will be made public as soon as more details become available. Following Moscow (Russia) in 2009, Mexico City (Mexico) in 2011, and Gothenburg (Sweden) in 2011, Warsaw will be the fourth international Meinl Drum Festival.   

Meanwhile, ticket sales from the 2015 Festival and added voluntary contributions, raised €20,000 which will be divided between two charities.

Percussion instruments worth €10,000 will be donated to the Danilo Perez Foundation in Panama. The organisation recruits children and young people at social risk with a talent for music who can’t afford a musical education and offers them a free scholarship to promote and develop their musical talents.

The other €10,000 of percussion instruments will be donated to the Károly Istvàn Orphanage near Budapest in Hungary, where music therapy plays a big role in their educational program, including working with physically and mentally handicapped children. 

“Thank you for your great contribution to our association,” said association member Regina Abou-Chacra. “There are no words to express our feelings when we realised it was really true, we will own these beautiful instruments. Your donation not only gives us a tremendous help in our daily work but we also gained a lot of inspiration to put more energy and effort into what we do.”

Meinl’s festival coordinator Norbert Saemann added: “Once again, thanks to everyone who attended this year’s festival. Without your support this wonderful donation would have not been possible.”