Eleven delegates from Caen, France joined us for a week of cultural and educational activities in May.  While these have typically been legal exchanges for many years, a potential new outcome emerged from this recent visit.  There is an initiative to begin a pharmacy student and medical student exchange.  The delegates also enjoyed Nashville's dining scene, a Sounds baseball game, a visit to the Civil Rights room at the downtown library and a tour of Belle Meade Plantation.  

This spring, Sister Cities hosted student and teacher groups from Taiyuan, China; Mendoza, Argentina; and Magdeburg, Germany.  Students stay with host families, attend school a few days, volunteer with a local non-profit for a day, meet Nashville's Mayor David Briley, see key historic and cultural sites and attractions, attend a sporting event and just generally have fun learning what life is like for teenagers in Nashville. 

The first week-long "Nashville in Belfast" program, showcasing Music City's music, food, culture and business, reached more than 30,000 Belfast residents and was a great success.  Musical performances by Mandy Barnett, The Willis Clan, Brian Pounds and two-time Grammy winner Kristian Bush of the duo Sugarland took the sounds of Nashville to various venues in the city.  The Nashville delegates staffed a Music City booth at St. George's Market for two nights, providing tourist information and giveaways.  There, Michael King of Monell's also did culinary demonstrations and tastings.  Delegates had sector meetings to further connections between Belfast and Nashville youth programs, soccer, healthcare, technology,  higher education and law. Nashville's Metro Council members Jim Shulman and DeCosta Hastings shared welcoming remarks from Nashville during a Belfast City Council meeting.