Planning the First
Annual Gostivar
Harvest Festival
By Candice Wiggum
Planning an event in Macedonia takes patience, flexibility, trust, and crisis management. The idea for a 5 K run came when, after
hearing PCV Kerry Plath talk about running,
my counterpart Luli decided that Gostivar
needed a good event. The idea expanded first
to include a Sheepbreeders’ Festival, then into
a broader celebration of the agricultural heritage of the Polog Valley, and finally into a festival celebrating the return of the sheep from
the mountains and the harvest.
Although
a Harvest Festival and a 5K race sounded
to some like a strange combination, it made
sense in Gostivar.
The Municipality had recently received a grant for a running trail
along the Vardar, and this would be a chance
to promote aerobic exercise and draw tourists. We had months to plan, so no problem,
right?
The first step was to identify and meet with
potential stakeholders.
We would need support from the local municipality, police, public
health clinic, sports organizations, sponsors,
school personnel, State University at Tetovo
School Sports program, and funding groups.
Even though Kerry was helping to organize
the race component, I had to learn more about
running a race, so I signed up for the 5K portion of the Skopje marathon. That was great,
and it put me in touch with the Skopje Sports
Federation, which was a great help in identifying suppliers and giving us things needed
for the race. Luli is a terrific networker, so we
started working his circuit, having coffee and
visiting with the commandant of the Gostivar
Police, the head of the public health clinic, a
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