The 6th edition of the Special Needs Awareness Weeks, led by the City's Participatory Committee in collaboration with numerous partners, opens at the Grand Théâtre in Limpertsberg 

on 2 May, the first of a series of events aimed at fostering exchanges, awareness, sensitivity and openness. The campaign ends on 29 May. 

Over the course of three weeks, a host of information stands, dining-in-the-dark events, conferences, exhibitions, sports days, film screenings and more have been created in order to bring the public closer to understanding the lives and needs of people whose experiences may hold different perspectives. 

Details of the different events are below: 

2 May — Opening of the exhibition at the Grand Théâtre bringing together the activities of many associations in the special needs field, highlighting the importance of their work and the issues faced. The opening starts at 18:00 and the exhibition will remain in place until 22 May 2017. Entrance is free. 

6 May — Action and Sports Day in the city centre. From 11:00 to 18:00, various associations will hold information booths offering demonstrations and workshops on the Place d’Armes, including Rahna assistance dogs, multi-handsports, Boccia, cyclo-dance, handbike, Luxrollers, Trikes, Joëllette and other means of sports and leisure travel, Capoeira, music by Jean Ziata. 

Meals in the dark in the Ville-Haute, Bonnevoie, Limpertsberg and Gasperich districts. 

Monday 8 May: The Tavern (Ville-Haute)

Thursday 11 May: Casa Fabiana (Bonnevoie)

Monday 15 May: Porta Nova (Limpertsberg)

Thursday 18 May: Quadro Delizioso (Gasperich)

Monday 29 May: Casa Fabiana (Bonnevoie)

Meals are served from 19:00 to 22:00. Places are limited and reservation is mandatory.

10 May — two documentaries screened at Kinepolis Kirchberg

On Wednesday 10 May, from 19:00, two documentaries will be presented at the Kinepolis Kirchberg: "SLA - There is much to do, so work! "And" Little Gray Cloud “.

The first film, lasting 20 minutes, describes the daily life of a woman with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) and interviews with experts from different professional fields. The second film, lasting 85 minutes, tells the story of a woman who lives with multiple sclerosis.

An open discussion will be held after each of the screenings.

An audio description is proposed for visually impaired and blind people, and translation into German and French is available on request. Entrance is free and reservation required.

11 May -  Conference on co-production, starting at 13:30, the APEMH is offering an interactive afternoon for social, communal and public professionals together with the partners of the European project “Enable”. The aim of the conference and workshops is to find Means to involve people with specific intellectual needs in planning and providing services (products, customer service, etc.) in order to adapt them to the needs of the people concerned. The conference is in Luxembourgish, German and English. Translation into German, French, English, sign language and German written transcription is available on request. Entrance is free and reservation required.

13 May — Guided tours. From 14:30 to 16:30, four guided tours through Ville-Haute are open to all and adapted to specific needs, for people with reduced mobility (Lu/Fr), blind and partially sighted persons (Lu/Fr), persons with specific intellectual needs (Lu/Fr), and persons who are deaf or hard of hearing (De/De sign language). Entrance is free and reservation required as  places are limited (25 places per visit). Rendez-vous at the Rue du Marché-aux-Herbes, near the entrance of the Grand-Ducal Palace. 

16 May — “Specific needs" action plan, an evening of discussion to plan and structure priority actions with regards to specific needs together with all the persons, associations and institutions, from 18:30 to 22:00 at the Bonnevoie Cultural Centre. This will be in Luxembourgish, with a translation into German, French, English, German sign language and simultaneous transcription available upon request. 

17 May — Contemporary dance spectacle, Confluences21, a creation by Sylvia Camarda at 19:30 presented by Trisomie 21 Lëtzebuerg and the Kulturfabrik cultural centre. As a "jam session" or improvised musician, Confluences21 is a series of fortuitous encounters in an imaginary space that gradually opens up to the unexpected magic of human interaction.

Duration: 2h30. Audio-description available on request. Entrance is free, though reservation is recommended. In cooperation with the Grand Théâtre of the City of Luxembourg and the participatory committee "specific needs". 

20 May — Inclusion Gala: art and culture without barriers at the Conservatoire of the City of Luxembourg at 19:00. On the programme: cabaret, pantomime, music and dance presented by artists such as the soprano Noémie Desquiotz-Sunnen accompanied on piano by Pit Heyart, the artist JOMI, Rigobert Rink, Rainer Schmidt and members of the association Zesummen Aktiv - ZAK. The gala will be followed by a wine of honour.Duration: +/- 3h30. French translation, German sign language and audio description on request. Free entry. Booking is recommended.

21 May — Museum invitations with three guided tours shared between people with special needs and the general public of the new permanent exhibition "The Luxembourg Story - more than 1000 years of urban history" at the Lëtzebuerg City Museum (formerly the Museum of History of the City of Luxembourg) will be led for people who are deaf or hard of hearing (De/De sign language), at 11:30, persons with specific intellectual needs (Lu), at 13:30, and blind and partially sighted persons (Fr), at 15:30. The tours last 1h30. Free entry. Mandatory reservation. 

A complete programme of events, plus details for registration is available on: www.vdl.lu.