39th Luxembourg Fest Part 3: Luxembourg's Intangible Cultural Heritage Kept Alive in Wisconsin, USA

For the first and second parts of this article on the 39th annual Luxembourg Fest organised by the Luxembourg American Cultural Society (LACS) in Wisconsin, USA, click here for the LACS Members Meeting on Thursday and here for Friday's Cultural Forum and Fundraising Dinner.

On Saturday 9 August 2025, the 39th annual Luxembourg Fest continued with its public-focussed parade and festival in Belgium, Wisconsin (USA), attracting an estimated 3-4,000 people in total to the event that was held in high 20s centigrade with beaming sun - the brewing storm finally broke around 16:00, after which most people had left.

The LACS Cultural Centre, museum and gift shop remained open for the four days, welcoming guests from far and wide.

The third day was undoubtedly the highlight of the four-day festival and the public part which involved the LACS and members (near and far) as well as the local community: described as the world's largest Luxembourg family reunion, the normally tranquil Belgium Community Park had transformed into the Fest Grounds for the big day on Saturday.

Day 3: The Parade

The 45-minute parade kicked off at 11:00, American-style, down the town's main street, involving local and community participants, many of whom had direct or indirect links with the community that had been spawned from settlers from the Grand Duchy in the mid to late 19th century.

From people walking with banners, to floats (including the circular "treipenmobile"), farmers on their tractors and volunteers in their fire engines (trucks), as well as vintage cars with Dukes and Duchesses from this and a number of previous years, and also local businesses, scouts and marching and brass bands, there was significant community involvement, with the long street lined with onlookers cheering everyone as they passed by, with many throwing out sweets to the young and old. This year, though, there was no sheep for the Hammelsmarch, representing the start of the annual Schueberfouer in the Grand Duchy.

The parade concluded with the Diamond Dancers performing a number of traditional Luxembourgish folk dances (including the Sonndesdanz and the Chiberli) accompanied by a live brass band, encouraging onlooker participation. Such dances are one strand of Luxembourg's intangible cultural heritage kept alive by the Luxembourg Fest and the LACS.

Day 3: The Festival (fairground)

The Fest Grounds hosted a number of stands at the Vendor & Artist corner, an Honored Family Tent (honouring the Burmesch family this year - last year it was the Jacoby family) and a Crafts Corner, including children's crafts and games in a Kids Zone which had a Bubbles Super Star (new this year, provided by Jason Kollum) and a straw bale mountain.

The LACS had a stall too, as did author Tim Byers who was signing copies of his two novels, "The Order of the Red Lion" and "The Vianden Deception", both set in the Grand Duchy.

The Everyday Luxembourg online store had a stall too, with products from Luxembourgish mustard to Ramborn cider selling fast; with other market stalls and craft stall also busy throughout the afternoon.

The bar was stocked with Luxembourg beer, wine and cider products, including Ramborn Cider, Vinsmoselle white wine and crémant, Bofferding beer and Twisted Cat pale ale, while the food options included Luxembourgish Mettwurst, Mustreipen and Bratwurst, as well as American hot dogs and burgers and candy floss (cotton candy), waffles and root beer floats, staffed by volunteers from Melvin Wester Belgium American Legion Post #412 and the Belgium Lions Club. A couple of local food trucks also participated, from Koyotes and That Taco Guy, and another selling fresh lemonade.

The annual treipen-eating contest had both adult and junior categories, with around 20 contestants seeing how much they could eat in 60 seconds. This year's winners were Corey Dimmer (adult) and Emma Dimmer (junior), both of whom regained their titles they won in 2024, albeit by closer margins this year.

Live music was provided throughout the day by Second Hand Stereo, with DJ Peace also in action on various shifts throughout the day.

The weather broke late in the afternoon with electrical storms breaking with heavy rain falling; by this stage the crowds had thinned and most activities had completed for the day.

Day 3: Documentary film screening

In the afternoon, the Belgium Cultural Centre located opposite the LACS premises hosted the second of two screenings of Geoff Thompson's documentary film "Luxembourg in America" which he filmed at the 38th annual Luxembourg Fest in 2024.

With the word out from Friday's screening, extra chairs had to be commissioned from the LACS, the second full house of the festival heard an introduction by Geoff Thompson prior to the 40-minute documentary screening, in which he welcomed former American Ambassador to Luxembourg, Tom Barrett, who had introduced the very first screening last September. After the screening, Honorary Consul Mike Ansay addressed the audience, thanking Geoff for making and sharing the documentary film which he described as "very important".

Day 4: Festival Mass

Sunday morning saw a 10:00 Fest Mass held outdoors at the Fest Grounds, led by Father Kramer of Harmon, Illinois, and with the readings in both Luxembourgish and English, and the 12-strong Luxembourg Fest Choir actively involved, including the singing of one hymn in Luxembourgish, with Denise Dimmer again playing the piano and one of the choir members also playing the violin.

Father Kramer mentioned in his homily that he is 84 years old and is currently in the process of applying for Luxembourgish nationality. He talked about preparing for what we do not expect. He was very down to earth and amusing at times; he also referenced Gaza and Ukraine, acknowledging that we are lucky to have what we have.

The 100+ attendees were less than anticipated due to the electrical storms and flash flooding overnight and hat morning that had closed a number of roads; nevertheless, they were then treated to the Luxembourg Fest pageantries with the 2023 Duke and Duchess, the Dimmers (Karen and Joe Kasper, the 2024 Duke and Duchess could not attend also due to the road closures) handing over the sashes and tiara to the 2025 Duke and Duchess, Michael and Anne Calteaux who were described as "dedicated Luxemburgish Americans" who have explored their Luxembourg heritage and became actively involved in the Luxembourgish American community; they actually got engaged at the LACS' Roots and Leaves Museum in 2021. Their ancestors had emigrated from Bigelbach and Bourglinster in Luxembourg; through these ancestral links they could reclaim their Luxembourgish citizenship in 2022, and they honeymooned in the Grand Duchy. They have also helped over 30 relatives also gain Luxembourgish nationality.

Representatives of the Honored Family, the Burmesches, were invited up to the gazebo; they can trace the arrival of their family in Belgium, Wisconsin, to 1846 when Franz Burmesch and his children arrived from Weiler-la-Tour. They had hosted the Honored Family tent/booth on the Saturday in the Fest Grounds - this included much genealogical research on their family tree going back six generations.

Day 4: Sheepshead tournament

While the Fest Grounds then reopened for food and drink, a new item on this year's Fest agenda was a Sheepshead Tournament, a card game that was played "the traditional Luxembourg-American way", attracting both avid and beginner players. Three one-hour sessions were held.

Interviews

Talking with Chronicle.lu, the 2025 Duke, Michael Calteaux, talked about what the honour means to him: "The ancestry that was handed down from my great great grandfathers making furniture and Church doors and confessionals, that their desire to pass on good virtues through hard work and through education came all the way down, and it is now my responsibility (that my parents passed on to me) to keep passing it on to the next generation."; and the 2025 Duchess, Anne Calteaux, stated: "Our Luxembourg heritage is something that Mike and I share that is very special and unique, and I think also it's so wonderful to be part of this festival where we can share it with others in our community, and I think something that we really want to keep alive is that connection with Luxembourg roots and we want to make sure that we celebrate that, to always make sure that we remember where we came from".

Talking afterwards with Chronicle.lu, Patricia Lutz, the outgoing LACS Executive Director who is retiring, concluded: "This was a very wet fest for us; last year was beautiful weather, but that is the one big unpredictable thing about Luxembourg Fest. I am stepping down; this is may last one, and... bittersweet - a lot of work, very physical work, so I'm happy that's done, but I will miss the people: this is a community event and this is a great community with wonderful people I work with on this event, and they're the ones I'll miss the most. We have a great new Executive Director, Travis Gross, who unfortunately got thrown into the hot, boiling pot of Luxembourg Fest (in his first week into his new job) and has been terrific. It has been a whirlwind and just steps right up and starts helping, so I think Luxembourg Fest is in good hands for next year".

This covers the third and fourth days of the 39th annual Luxembourg Fest, open to the public: the first day was mainly focussed on a private event for LACS members, with the second day involving the Cultural Forum and the Luxembourg Under the Stars fundraising dinner: links to these articles can be found at the top of this article.

ED