The 2nd World Congress of the Hedonists International has finished and everybody has returned from Riebau. At this point, we want to thank everybody who conquered their way to the Altmark! First of all, our thanks go to all of you. You have been the best audience that a festival-congress could ever have! You have been much more than an audience – you have been an active part of the whole congress. You made it what it turned out to be: a small world, in which 300 people have found out in a self-determined and responsible way, what is possible if they just gather and kick off doing the things they want to.

Of course, we want to give our sincere thanks to all the contributors, technicians and DJs as well, and last but not least to all the folks who just came a few days earlier to help. We thank the musicians and artists for the program filled up with punk rock, rock n’ roll, boom-boom and all kinds of wonderful hippieshit. We are grateful for the people who enchanted the area with beautiful decoration, for the team who did the cinema floor and the kitchen crews who provided us with delicious and healthy food. We bow to serious lectures, philosophy and funny hoax. We are happy that you had so much fun and pleasure. That you pestered the contributors with so many questions and thrilled them with your interest. We are overwhelmed by your determination to join in and make the congress such a special place. We have fallen in love with your spontaneity and the smile in your face that has made others smile as well.

Especially, we would like to give props to the people of the „Traumschule Riebau“, who have invited us to their place and let us „do what you want“. We thank the inhabitants of the village, who endured us (and our music) during all four days without grumble. Such a tolerant place isn’t easy to find – we did not get any complaint at all.
Now, we are primarily sad that it’s over. We will take some weeks to decide whether to do it again or not. Anyway, these beautiful memories in our heads are tempting us : )
Please contact us if you want to join us, if you know about a nice potential congress site we should explore or if you have any idea about what should happen at another hedonist world congress.
We are looking forward to hear from you!

Additionally a little information:
We had a few journalists at the congress, who – in our opinion – made some very apposite contributions. Unfortunately, they are all in German.

Unabhängiges Radiofeature
Neues Deutschland 15.6.11: Hightech am Lagerfeuer
Funkhaus Europa 14.6.11: Bericht vom Weltkongress
ON3 Radio 15.6.11: Radikal-Aerobic für Anfänger

During the next days we will upload some podcasts and sheets of the lectures, too.

The Hedonist International was founded in 2006, in order to try and field test politics. It centers action, which can mean a nude group visiting overpriced flats, or demonstrations for freedom and human rights, or doing gramophone concerts in Swiss homes for the elderly. The Hedonist International isn’t an organization, but an idea. We invite everyone to play with and experiment this idea, which is outlined in a hedonist manifesto. This manifesto is available in many languages and gives you the conceptual framework for hedonist action. Up to now, we count about 40 sections – no one can say exactly how many there are – in different countries which have joined the idea and have begun to combine politics with fun in their own way.

The Hedonist International’s 2nd World Congress will take place from June 9th to June 13th. It wants to bring together people from all over the world who are interested in hedonism, to promote their networking and to open new perspectives for resistance. We will discuss theoretical concepts, try new forms of action, talk about social conflicts and about alternative methods of political intervention. And we will dance as well.

Congress program is planned along the 3 topics Protest, Party, and Action. It is foreseen that contributions, panels, and workshops will be added spontaneously. If you want to contribute something to the congress, just come along with your idea and realize it on-site!

The Congress, as the whole Hedonist International, lives on do-it-yourself, get-into-the-act, and active participation. More on this: see Idea.