Before the Big Festival

Since 1393, that is 624 years ago, the town of Bleiburg has been celebrating its economic health with the annual "Festival on the Meadow"  (Wiesenmarkt.)
It was then, that the ruling Monarch gave his permission for the town to have this party on "his" meadow. 
If my math is correct, this first festival took place fully 99 years before the discovery of America in 1492.
Two weeks prior to the commencement of the Wiesenmarkt, the so-called "Freyung" is prominently displayed on the Main Square and the town's dignitaries come to have a glass of "Met" (honey-wine)
as produced for this special occasion by Bleiburg's Sugarbaker, Mr. Gottfried Stöckl.

Cheers !

Gottfried Stöckl.

Proud Sugarbaker and Producer of 

the best Met (Honey-wine) in the country.