Fest in the city with Sunday shopping “Bonn shines” will take place this weekend
Bonn · The event "Bonn shines" will be taking place on this first weekend of November. Parallel to the event, stores will be open for Sunday shopping on November 7, and many promotional offers are expected. The Bonn city council approved the event.
“Bonn shines” (“Bonn leuchtet”) will be taking place this weekend in Bonn city center, with stores open for Sunday shopping on November 7. A large majority of the city council approved of the Sunday shopping and stores will be allowed to open from 1 to 6 p.m. The popular event features city squares, streets and buildings illuminated in colorful lighting. It runs Friday through Sunday. There will also be international street food carts on the city squares and in surrounding streets during the event, as well as exhibitions, information booths and hands-on activities.
The majority of the council members stressed that they wanted to help retailers after hard times suffered during the pandemic. For the city center, a festival like "Bonn shines" is very important, said Torben Leskien (CDU). Tim Achtermeyer (Greens) stated, "In difficult times, we should stand together." But he also raised concerns about whether such a festival of lights was justifiable in times of climate change, even if lighting technicians were now using energy-saving LED lights.
As reported, the coalition made it clear in the past that it wants to present a statute by the end of this year, spelling out which events it considers worthy of supporting in public spaces. As it stands now, district councils have the possibility to intervene. Since there is no such statute to date, the administration said that the ban on certain event formats or names for events was not legally tenable.
"Bonn shines" has been organized by the retailers annually since 2007. Elaborate lighting displays and projections are planned for city squares, streets and on buildings, along with fireworks. Among the buildings and areas featured will be the Old Town Hall, the University of Bonn, the Bonn Cathedral, the Old Post Office, the Stockentor and Bottlerplatz.
Orig. text: Philipp Königs
Translation: ck
