U-Matic

German Festival Riverfront, 6/9/89

U-Matic S tape containing footage of shot of the 1989 German Festival's opening parade and ceremony in Hart Plaza on June 9th.

The video begins with a very brief pan across the Detroit River off Belle Isle, taken from east of the Detroit Yacht Club.

Then the video cuts to Hart Plaza where group of people--many of whom wear German folk costume and hold club banners or flags--are gathered. They are joined by a marching band that begins to play and leads the others in a procession. After a cut, the camera moves to Hart Plaza's amphitheater area where, it rolls as the procession comes down the ramp from the surface level.

Then from a podium on a stage in the amphitheater, a speaker welcomes everyone to the 1989 German-American Festival, and introduces singers preform several national anthems. The tape contains portions of the Star-Spangled Banner, Switzerland's Schweizerpsalm, and a brief clip of one other. As other speakers address the crowd, the camera continues getting short shots of other people in the audience and other participants in the ceremony. The camera also catches the crowning of the German-American Queen Michelle Eggert, and one of the German-American Princesses, Karen Eggert. The recording abruptly ends while the speaker is talking about the drinks and other attractions.

The recording is on a 3M UCA-30s U-Matic S tape with a handwritten 3M label on its top. The tape is housed within a black plastic latching case with a City of Detroit Department of Public Information Video Production label on its cover. The tape's label features the date "6/9/89," while the case is labeled "6/12/89." The event ran from the 9th to the 11th.