Please note: The following text is an interview or story from a previous year. Please do not draw any conclusions from it about currently taking place events or statistics etc.

Spreewald Journal Issue: July/August 2017

Interview with Doreen Goethe: "The longing for life in the countryside has never been as great as it is today."

Doreen Goethe on her commitment to the Spreewald Festival "Quark & Leinöl" in Burg.

On 19 and 20 August 2017, the Quark & Leinöl festival took place for the first time in the Kur- und Sagenpark in Burg. The festival will take place again this year. Mark your calendars for 18 and 19 August 2018. Visitors will be able to experience the Spreewald country life as a real highlight. Quality and sustainability play just as important a role as tradition and customs. From culinary delights to handicrafts and garden trends, visitors can discover lots of great things "here in the country" for a whole weekend. Doreen Goethe had the idea for the festival and is bubbling over with enthusiasm for it.

Ms Goethe, Quark & Linseed Oil focuses on the charm of country life. What message would you like to give the visitors? The longing for life in the countryside has never been as great as it is today. With our festival Quark & Leinöl, we want to whet the appetite for rural life in the Spreewald and invite visitors on a journey of discovery: Shaped by the Lower Sorbian/Wendish population, the Spreewald experiences its very own culture of life. Quark & Leinöl wants to build a bridge between cultural diversity as well as rural enjoyment in order to inspire visitors to experience rural life in the Spreewald in an authentic and tangible way. The title of the festival speaks for itself. On the one hand, it highlights two classics of local cuisine and, on the other hand, underlines the enjoyment factor of the region. What "ingredients" make up the Spreewald feel-good aroma for you personally? The Spreewald with its mysterious flowing landscape is unique and offers a variety of wonderful treasures, which we want to make accessible to visitors in one place: Starting with the traditions that are lovingly cultivated, old crafts and products for the kitchen, such as fresh fish and linseed oil, to long-forgotten cultivated plants such as linen, quack flower, soapwort and boar rue. What did you pay particular attention to when putting together the variety of programmes that Quark & Linseed Oil has to offer? For garden lovers, we have forgotten useful plants, herbs and perennials as well as the latest garden trends that will transform any cottage garden, terrace or balcony into a little paradise. We present rural living ideas and accessories as well as traditional handicrafts. Our country kitchen offers kitchen treasures typical of the Spree Forest for gourmets. Beer and wine gardens as well as café terraces invite you to linger. Our programme for children is also varied and, in its first year, is based on harvest customs such as cockerel striking or frog cart racing and sends the children on a journey to the Spreewald legend figures. On the Linseed Oil Mile, for example, everything will revolve around linseed oil - from extraction to consumption. How important do you think it is to create the "experienceability of products", within the framework of the event and beyond? Enjoyment is our top priority. Spreewald products like linseed oil, horseradish & gherkins are known beyond the Brandenburg state border. We want to dedicate the festival specifically to linseed oil. In a "Linseed Oil Mile", the local oil mills will present themselves and show how their linseed oil is produced and what makes it so special. Visitors can taste and buy what has given strength to the Spreewald for many generations. But these products will not only be shown, they will also be put to use. A special highlight will be the cooking show with our LandKöche chefs, who will conjure up a dish typical of the Spreewald using linseed oil. The dishes can be tasted by the visitors and the recipes can be taken away to be cooked again. So we can take visitors on a wonderful culinary journey. Only this much can be revealed: Our LandKöche are top regional chefs, such as Jörg Thiele, Oliver Heilmeyer, Marco Giedow and Peter Franke. What do you think is the special attraction of the festival? With Quark & Leinöl we want to present the Spreewald with all its facets and make it possible for visitors to experience it with all their senses: Selected traders, high-quality Spreewald dishes, small concerts in the countryside, lectures on traditional rural life and customs for children make the summer weekend unforgettable.