Dear 1 st Golden Age Gym Festival 2008 participants!

We are very glad to announce that for the provisional registration we have received the inscription of 1.800 participants and 93 groups from 26 nations. Since January our internet portal www.goldenage2008.com has been attended by over 25.000 visitors. These enthusiastic provisional results underline the gymnastics development in Europe for the segment 50plus!

We have prepared very intensively the workshop programme of the 1 st Golden Age Gym Festival 2008, incorporating new ideas with interesting topics from the wide spectrum of alternatives in Europe . We have finalised the workshop programme offering you the most modern and newest trends in the entire field of Gymnastics for All, especially in the area of fitness and health related activities.

Consequently we have uptated the Bulletin Nr. 2 within the workshop programme and the Final Entry Form for the definitive registration of the groups, which you will find attached. Please use the attached documents for the final registration of your groups and remind them to check the new range of workshops they can select from and to use only the updated forms.

We use the opportunity to remind the National Federations of the possibility to register new groups till the end of September 2008.
We wish you a lot of fun with the preparations of your performances and look forward to seeing you in Maspalomas!

Am 25. und 26. April haben sich in Maspalomas die Mitglieder des Technischen Komitees Turnen für Alle der Europäischen Turnunion, das Sportamt von San Bartolomé de Tirajana und das OK des 1. Golden Age Gym Festival versammelt. Die Besprechung wurde von der Vizepräsidentin, Birna Björnsdottir von Island und vom Koordinator dieses Ausschusses dem Portugiesen Alberto Claudino Loureiro Nunes präsidiert. Seitens des Rathauses von Maspalomas nahm Herminio Déniz teil und vom OK kamen Jesús Telo Núñez, Jesús Telo Rodríguez, Pilar Alonso, Isidro Seco, Cornelio Ortega und Alejandro Rodríguez.

Die provisorische Meldung für das 1. Golden Age Gym Festival hat sensationelle Zahlen mit der vorläufigen Teilnahme von 26 Ländern erreicht, 8 von denen hatten nicht das Test Festival besucht. Die Nummer von registrierten Gruppen übertrifft die Zahl von 93 mit über 1800 Teilnehmer. Die zahlreichsten Delegationen stammen aus Spanien mit 264 Teilnehmer und Teilnehmerinnen, Deutschland (240), Island (209), Norwegen (143), Holland (140) und Finnland (116), obwohl andere Nationen wesentlich zugenommen haben, wie das der Fall von Russland und die baltischen Länder ist. Die Mitglieder des Komitees Gymnastik für Alle der Europäischen Turnunion zeigten sich durch die vorläufigen Ergebnisse optimistisch und erwarten die Teilnahme von 2000 Turnerinnen und Turner zu übertreffen.

Das Internet Portal 1. Golden Age Gym Festival wurde im ersten Vierteljahr 2008 von 19.000 Sportlern aus 4 Kontinenten und über 43 Länder besucht. Diese Tatsache bestätigt das internationale Interesse für das Ereignis unter den Mitgliedsstaaten der Europäischen Turnunion.

Das endgültige Programm der Eröffnungsfeier im Shopping Center Yumbo inklusive dem Festzug mit den 2000 erwarteten Turnerinnen und Turner wurde vorgestellt. Weiterhin würden die Vorführungen der 93 Gruppen auf den drei Bühnen des Parks von San Fernando, Platz von Maspalomas und CC Yumbo besprochen. Das endgültige Workshop Programm mit 26 Angebote wurde abgeschlossen, die im Polideportivo San Fernando vormittags durchgeführt werden.

Zuletzt bereiteten die folgende Besprechung mit dem Technischen Komitee Gymnastik für Alle der Europäischen Turnunion vor , die Ende September in Maspalomas stattfinden wird.

The members of the Technical Committee Gymnastics for All of the European Union of Gymnastics met on the 25th and 26th of April Maspalomas with the Sports representatives from the Town of San Bartolomé de Tirajana and the Organizing Committee of the 1st Golden Age Gym Festival, which will take place from November 16th until 21st, 2008.

The meeting was presided by the Vice-president of the Technical Committee of Gymnastics for All, Birna Björnsdottir of Iceland and by the coordinator of the Committee 50plus, the Portuguese Alberto Claudino Loureiro Nunes. Representing the Town of Maspalomas was Herminio Déniz and for the Organizing Committee, there were present Jesús Telo Núñez, Jesús Telo Rodríguez, Pilar Alonso, Isidro Seco, Cornelio Ortega and Alejandro Rodríguez.

The 1st European Festival the Golden Age has reached sensational numbers with the provisional participation of 26 countries, 8 of which had not visited the Test event in the previous occasion. The number of registered groups overcomes the 93 with more than 1800 participants. The most numerous delegations come from Spain (264), Germany (240), Iceland (209), Norway (143), Holland (140) and Finland (116), although other delegations have increased considerably as it is the case of Russia and the Baltic countries. The members of the Technical Committee of the European Union of Gymnastics were euphoric about the intermediate figures of provisional records, predicting for this European Festival a final participation that can exceed all expectations.

The Internet portal for the presentation of the 1st Golden Age Gym Festival 2008 has been attended in the first trimester of 2008 by 19.000 interested visitors of 4 continents and more than 43 countries. This fact confirms the international interest in the event by the member countries of the European Union of Gymnastics.

During these productive days the participants of the meeting fixed the final program for the Opening ceremony in the Shopping Center Yumbo including the parade with the 2000 participants expected, as well as the performances of 93 groups in the three stages of Park of San Fernando, Square of Maspalomas and CC Yumbo. They finalised the program of 26 Workshops which will be realized in the Complex Sports Center of San Fernando. Finally they established protocol aspects for the preparation of the following meeting with the Technical Committee of the European Union of Gymnastics that will be in September in Maspalomas.

The 1st UEG Golden Age Gym Festival will be held in Maspalomas/Gran Canaria from November 16th to 21st, 2008.

The Bulletin N° 2 has already been sent in December 2007 to the National Federations, including all information necessary for the provisional registrations, which have to be sent to the OC by March 28th, 2008.

The 1st Golden Age Gym Festival is for groups (at least 6 persons) of gymnasts aged 50 or older and offers them a week of active holidays in a pleasant climate (20-25°C).

You can now download the following documents:

1. Bulletin Nr. 2
2. Preliminary Registration for the National Federations
3. Registration Form for the teams

The Festival will begin with an opening ceremony, a parade in the streets of Maspalomas and ends with a closing gala. In the morning, the gymnasts participate in one or two of some 20 workshops, the afternoons are free. The groups have also the possibility to show their presentations to the public in different venues of the town. Excursions will be proposed so that the participants can discover this beautiful region.

The deadline for the provisional registration and for the advance payment of 10% is March 28th 2008. The deadline for the definitive registrations and the remaining payment will expire on September 30th, 2008.

The Information Meeting for 20 UEG member federations was held from November 23 to 25 in Maspalomas. It was an excellent opportunity to visit the installations where the performances and the workshops are going to be presented during the 1st Golden Age Gym Festival 2008 and to collect useful information for the participating teams.

The Organising Committee welcomed all participants to the Information Meeting 1st Golden Age Gym Festival 2008. The inscription documentation was explained and distributed, as well as the daily programme including all aspects regarding the accommodation and logistics for the 2008 event.
The UEG Technical Committee Gymnastics for all (TC-GfA) organised the official meeting in Maspalomas. They were very satisfied about the interest of the federations in this info meeting. The record presence was highly appreciated and the participation in the 1st Golden Age Gym Festival of the UEG in November 2008 is very promising.

The delegates of the National Federations visited the 3 stages where the performances will be showed: Parque de San Fernando, Plaza de Maspalomas and Centro Comercial Jumbo. On the photo the representatives are participating in the visit to the workshops area in the Sports Centre Polideportivo San Fernando. There was possible to get a closed impression about the facilities for the workshops participants.
On Saturday the representatives of the National Federations participated in a reception at the city hall of Maspalomas. The 1st Major of the City of Maspalomas underlined the importance of this international event for the touristic city. The President of the UEG Technical Committee Gymnastics for all, Detlef Mann highlighted the opportunity to express their gratitude to the Municipality of Maspalomas for their extraordinary support for the organisation of the 1st Golden Age Gym Festival.

During the meeting was presented the official poster of the international event next year and distributed to each of the participants. The representatives of the National Federations received from the Organising Committee a CD with the Bulletin Nr. 2 with the information about the programme in 2008 and the registration process. The forms for the registrations will be sent to the Federations together with Bulletin n° 2 in December 2007. The deadline for the provisional registration is fixed on March 31st, 2008.

"The Mayor of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Mari Pino Torres, celebrate a meeting with the representatives of the Unión Europea de Gimnasia and the Comité Organizador Festival Blume Gran Canaria concerning the preparation of the activities of the 1st Golden Age Gym Festival 2008 which will be held in our Municipality.

As representatives of the UEG participated the islandesa Birna Bjornsdottir, Vice President, and the portuguese Alberto Claudinho, member. From the Organising Committee Blume Gran Canaria participated in the meeting their President Jesús Telo Núñez, the General Secretary, Jesús Telo Rodríguez and the coordinator for the local workshops, Alejandro Rodríguez.

During the meeting the Mayor was informed about the Information Meeting of the 1st Golden Age Gym Festival 2008, which will be held from the 23 till 25 of November in hotel Beverly Park de Playa del Inglés with the participation of represntatives of 15 nations. The visitors will supervise the instalations where the Sportsfestival will be and where the participants has the opportunity to visit the 47 Festival Internacional de Gimnasia Blume Gran Canaria, which will be held during the same dates in San Bartolomé de Tirajana, with the participation of more than 5.000 deportistas.The 1st Golden Age Gym Festival 2008 will be held from the 16th till the 21st of November 2008 in differnet locations of the Municipality, like the polideportivo de San Fernando, the Shopping Centre Plaza de Maspalomas, the Shopping Centre Yumbo or the Park San Fernando, with the participation of 2.500 gimnastas participants for the segment 50 plus."