Manfred Wicht

Manfred Wicht , a former member of the German Forces.
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Manfred Wicht: I came to Brandon with the German Forces in 1975 out in Shilo. Since 1983, I've been a resident in Brandon. Journal: What does the Lt. Governors' Winter Festival mean to you? Wicht: To me personally, it means that I'm proud to be able to display my culture. I want people to realize that there is more to it than just lederhosen (German clothing) and beer drinking (laughing). We just want to show people what we're all about. We have lots of fun and we try to show people what our culture is all about and bring a little diversity into the region by having a pavilion and showcasing all our stuff of course. Journal: Explain the German pavilion and what all took place? Wicht: I think when you look at all the pavilions right from the start (2004) we were one of the first pavilions to be part of this festival.
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Wicht: Personally, I didn't have a chance to go any place else. I did in 2004, I went to other pavilions. We do send our ambassadors to other pavilions and they came back with great responses. They were treated nicely. Journal: What makes the Winter Festival so special in your eyes? Wicht: I think it's the time of the year.

"Last year, on the Friday night, we had more of a turnover with people co-ming and going; that didn't happen this year," said German Pavilion event coordinator Manfred Wicht (this week's third page interview). "When people came to the pavilion, they stayed for quite a while. That is the reason we had lower overall numbers this year, but of course, our consumption of food and spirits was up," laughs Wicht. Do you blame Westman? Good food, good entertainment, good booze, good everything. I wouldn't leave either. Here's a thought, maybe try putting a more popular pavilion or pavilions in the Manitoba Room of the Keystone Centre? It's big, can hold tons of people and can probably generate more revenue for the festival despite the rental cost. Wicht had some interesting thoughts on the subject. "It definitely would create more revenue but it would create some more problems as well." Wicht says that event organizers were in discussions with the Keystone Centre, but felt that problems would arise such as huge crowds of people leaving to attend a 'smaller seating capacity' pavilion. Wicht said it would 'overwhelm' certain pavilions in town. Also, he feels the Keystone Centre, at this point in time, does not have the kitchen facilities to accommodate multiple pavilions and because of these factors, the Keystone Centre discussions broke off. According to Wicht, the UFCW Training Centre, which was the venue for the German pavilion this year, will be under going some construction and thus, will not be in the Winter Festival's plans next year.

"Last year, on the Friday night, we had more of a turnover with people co-ming and going; that didn't happen this year," said German Pavilion event coordinator Manfred Wicht (this week's third page interview).
...
Wicht had some interesting thoughts on the subject. "It definitely would create more revenue but it would create some more problems as well." Wicht says that event organizers were in discussions with the Keystone Centre, but felt that problems would arise such as huge crowds of people leaving to attend a 'smaller seating capacity' pavilion. Wicht said it would 'overwhelm' certain pavilions in town. Also, he feels the Keystone Centre, at this point in time, does not have the kitchen facilities to accommodate multiple pavilions and because of these factors, the Keystone Centre discussions broke off. According to Wicht, the UFCW Training Centre, which was the venue for the German pavilion this year, will be under going some construction and thus, will not be in the Winter Festival's plans next year.