A delegation from Frome visited Rabka-Zdrój in Poland over the weekend of June 15th to 18th to take part in the annual meeting of the four twinned towns: Château-Gontier sur Mayenne (France), Murrhardt (Germany), Rabka-Zdrój (Poland) and Frome. Rabka sits in the foothills of the Carpathian and Tatra mountains in the south-west of Poland close to Krakow.
During the meeting, developments that had taken place in the towns over the last year were shared.
Member of the Frome Twinning Association, Justin Worringham said, “Frome’s new mayor, cllr Philip Campagna, spoke on behalf of Frome and was able to meet the other mayors to discuss possible future twinning activities such as a football competition in Germany to take place during the 2024 European Championships, strengthening ties between young people and schools between the towns, and possible joint support for a town in eastern Ukraine. We also learnt that Rabka is still caring for approximately 1,000 Ukrainian refugees. Plans were discussed to celebrate the 40th anniversary this year of twinning between Frome and Murrhardt.
“The visit coincided with festivals taking place in Rabka, the Carpathian Music Festival and a retro journey back to the Charm of Old Rabka in the form of residents dressing in period costumes together with a display of vintage cars. We were able to see and enjoy these festivals and get a flavour of local culture, cuisine, the surrounding countryside and an insight into the lives of our Polish friends.
“Members of our party were accommodated either in a small hotel or with host families.
“We were delighted to take with us and display an exhibition of art produced by Artists in Dialogue, an online collaborative project between Frome and Ukrainian artists who have found refuge around Europe. The exhibition entitled War Vocabulary consists of works on the theme of the war in Ukraine and has already been shown in Frome. We were particularly pleased that four Ukrainian artists were able to join the Frome delegation travelling from Austria, Slovakia and Ukraine.”
For more information on twinning, visit Frome Twinning Association (https://600eb810cdd16.site123.me/) or the Frome Town Council website.