On the occasion of the International Hitchhiking Week (first week of August), the European hitchhiker community has decided to organize a big festival in Odessa, Ukraine : The “project 789”.

On August 7th, 2009, hitchhikers from all over Europe (and the world) will meet up in Odessa, Ukraine after many days on the road for most.

All of them are hitchhiking. In facts, every year, thousands of people hitchhike all over the world. People from all backgrounds, a very diverse society indeed. In many countries, hitchhiking is still an "official" way of transportation. The hitchhiker community wants to show that sharing your car and exchanging stories with a hitchhiker can turn out to be a fantastic human experience in an increasingly individualistic world.

The aim of the festival is to spread awareness about hitchhiking. To give it a better image, to promote it as a way of transportation. To show that it is social and fun; and that it does indeed work. Even in an age of motorways and low-cost airlines. Moreover, in a background of global warming and economical crisis, hitchhiking is a sustainable solution. So, in order to reach a wide audience, the festival will be an official event, organized hand in hand with the local community and authority.

The hitchhiking community is very active. It maintains a permanent presence on the road and the web. Through global platforms like hitchwiki.org, digihitch.com or hitchbase.com; and a myriad of language specific platforms.

The festival will take place in Odessa, Ukraine, but the adventure will start on your doorstep! Ukraine is a very central country in Europe, in equal reach of the Ural mountains, the Atlantic coast, the Mediterranean beaches and the Nordic fjords. Odessa is a major and multicultural city on the shore of the Black sea. Last but not least, Ukraine is outside of Schengen space and has tolerant border policies that welcomes all European and most world citizen.

In Odessa, workshops and punctual events will be held. Many artists are joining in so you can expect an explosion of performances and talents. People that hitchhike a lot often learn useful and unusual skills. And they are willing to teach them. As much as possible the participants will reach out into the streets of the city through performances and activities.

Last year (08/08/08), for the first official hitchhiking week, the festival was hosted in Paris, right in front of the Eiffel tower (Champs de Mars). It gathered 150 hitchhikers from all around Europe and the world. Fabrice Renucci and Martin Boserup co-produced and co-directed "Paris 888", a feature documentary about four hitchhikers traveling to the 888 project from Saint James of Compostela, Turkey, Copenhagen and Barcelona.

For more information about the "789 Project", please visit: http://www.the789project.com For hitchhiking information and tips, please visit: http://hitchwiki.org

789 – The road is mine!

Journalists are also invited to join the European hitchhiking festival. They can team up with experienced hitchhikers and take part in the preparatory meetings taking place all over Europe from the 1st - 6th August. To get the latest news from the road, they can also follow the adventures of a group of hitchhikers and call them to hear their updates and stories from the road.

The festival is organized in a very decentralized and open way by a team spread out all over Europe. To enquire about anything, the easiest way is to write an email to the address: 789-coordination@googlegroups.com and someone from the team will get back at you shortly.