Sedbergh’s twin town is Zreče in Slovenia
Sedbergh has been twinned with Zreče since 2005. The twinning came about in an unusual way: via a television programme – you can read about it on How and Why We Entered Into a Twinning Arrangement.
The primary focus of Sedbergh’s twinning consists of Musical Visits
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and School Exchanges
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What better way for people of different backgrounds and cultures to grow closer
than by singing and dancing together?
The traditional and folk music of an area teaches us something about
the grounding of a culture and the way the people of that culture think and feel.
The people of Sedbergh (some of them at any rate) have been exchanging songs with
their friends in Slovenia since the inception of the town twinning
agreement between Sedbergh and Zreče. Slovenian songs are being sung in Sedbergh
and further afield. And singers from around the UK have been hearing and
exchanging songs in English, Slovene and other languages as a result of the contacts
and friendships made between singers and choirs from our nations.
The links on the left beginning ‘Music’ describe visits of singers and dancers from the UK and Slovenia,
with people from Sedbergh, or related to Sedbergh’s connections
with Slovenia in some way.
We encourage singing and dancing between the people of the UK and Slovenia.
The links on these pages are not only about Sedbergh, they are also about our friends worldwide.
The annual visits of 13- to 14-year-olds from Sedbergh’s state secondary
school, Settlebeck High School, to Slovenia, and the return visits of Slovenian students of
a similar age to Sedbergh, have provided opportunities for the broadening of horizons
and meeting of people from different lands and cultures that many young people here would otherwise
have been denied.
The Settlebeck student group visiting Slovenia has included some young people
with physical disabilities and some with special educational needs; this helps to foster
cooperation and understanding of others.
The coming together of people across Europe and the close relationships and hand of friendship
should always bind us in peace and prosperity.
Town signs, (dvojčki = twin, mesta = towns)
A view of Sedbergh's twin town, Zreče and its surrounding hills
