Brussels concert marks 50 years of Up With People

Up With People, an American educational organisation with a mission to bridge cultural barriers through voluntary service and music, is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a concert in Brussels this weekend - rescheduled after the events in Paris last November.

Started in 1965, UWP was an offshoot of the Moral Re-Armament, a movement dedicated to "love, honesty, purity and unselfishness". At the time, the Cold War was at its peak and the United States was riven by discord over civil rights and the war in Vietnam.

According to UWP founder J. Blanton Belk: "I thought if we could harness some of that energy and give them a positive voice it might capture their attention and touch the world.

Squeaky clean image

UWP's immediate acceptance and support by the Washington elite and such corporate sponsors as Halliburton and Standard Oil, coupled with its squeaky clean image during the messy Sixties caused many eyebrows to be raised. Was it really a front for the spreading of right-wing politics? Was it actually a cult? At the height of their fame, the group frequently performed the half-time entertainment at the Super Bowl.

All of that is still being debated but UWP soldiers on. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with satellite offices in Belgium and Mexico, twice a year UWP assembles a "cast" of approximately 100 participants who travel to 20 countries around the world, live with host families, do community service and put on concerts.

Read more at TheBulletin.be

Up With People's Europe 50th anniversary celebration, Saturday 4 June 20.00, Brussels Expo Hall 10
www.upwithpeople.org