Some 15,000 youngsters are expected to attend “Holywins” in Paris on Monday, 31 October. “Holywins” is a youth festival with rock concert organized by the archdiocese of the French capital and now in its fourth year. Throughout the day groups of youngsters will go through the streets of the city to meet its inhabitants and distribute a paper with a print-run of 150,000 copies. It will be distributed at the exit to metro stations, in shopping malls and outside churches with an invitation to participate in the rock concert in the evening. From six o’clock to midnight Christian musical groups will alternate on the stage set up in front of the church of Saint-Sulpice. Stands on life, death, love, solidarity and the existence of God will be installed round about, including spaces for dialogue and exchange. “Holywins” was originally launched by young Parisian Catholics in 2002, in reaction to the modish Anglo-Saxon feast of Halloween, and to recall the Christian sense of the feast of All Saints and of the day of commemorating the dead. It forms part of a wider programme of events organized by the archdiocese of Paris for the days ahead. The programme begins on Friday 28 October with a “day of forgiveness”, followed by a series of prayer vigils and eucharistic adorations, pilgrimages to cemeteries, and meetings with citizens. “Ateliers” for children between the ages of 8 and 11 are planned in many parishes.
