The folk festival for Albanian culture and music takes place without the participation of the Zurich Justice Director. Fehr previously received a rebuke from the Anti-Racism Commission.
The carpet at the Alba Festival would have been rolled out for Jacqueline Fehr.
At the weekend, the Albanian community meets at the Hardturmareal in Zurich. Up to 20,000 participants are expected at the Alba Festival. Zurich government councilor and culture minister Jacqueline Fehr will not be among them. This, although the SP politician had promised at the beginning of the week.
“My visit has meanwhile become a political issue,” writes Fehr on Twitter. That’s why she talked to Adem Morina, the organizer of the festival, again. The “political staging” around the major event is causing concern, as Fehr writes. That’s why she offered him to cancel her announced visit and instead meet the organizer next week.
Fehr has come under criticism for having the 2021 Alba Festival canceled just two days before it was to be held. The reason she gave was that the festival was aimed at a community “strongly affected” by the corona pandemic. This, although the 3G rules would have applied at the time.
As the NZZ announced this week, the Federal Commission against Racism criticized the communication about the cancellation at the time. It was “rightly perceived as discriminatory”. Basically, it is problematic to justify the withdrawal of a permit with the origin of the target audience.
Actually, I wanted to visit the alba festival this weekend. In the meantime, however, my visit has become a political issue. That’s why I phoned Adem Morina, the organizer of the alba festival, last night. He invited me to the festival again.
— Jacqueline Fehr (@jacquelinefehr) July 1, 2022