Bonn Shines and Streetfood Festival Positive round up after Sunday shopping
Bonn · “Bonn shines” appealed to all the senses this year. In addition to the colourfully illuminated buildings, visitors were offered a musical and culinary spectacle and the shops were open on Sunday.
The Old Town Hall, the University, the Beethovenhaus, the Sterntor and many other buildings in Bonn’s city centre were bathed in colour from Friday evening. Green, red, blue, yellow and pink spotlights illuminated the buildings and provided a unique backdrop to shopping spree, a visit to the Streetfood Festival or to the Euromarché, a market for European specialities.
The lighting effects, put together by Wolfgang Flammersfeld, attracted many photography enthusiasts and others into the city. Yvette Schwarz thought that more buildings were illuminated last year. The Münster was not lit up for technical reasons. The opera, which organises the illuminations, could not take part this year because of timing constraints. “But it’s great that there’s so much life in the city this evening,” said Schwarz.
Streetfood Festival
Maike Reinhardt, managing director of City-Marketing, was also completely satisfied. “The city centre was still packed long after the shops closed,” she said delightedly. But for the future she would like more support. “Many retailers have benefited from the event. It would be nice if we could get them on board.”
The Streetfood Festival with delicacies from around the world and the Euromarché, with European specialities, were spread across the Münsterplatz, Marktplatz and Friedensplatz. Visitor Werner Kolb thought it was a successful combination. His wife, Dorothea, thought it was missing some of the international street food flair. “We have already visited several places in the world. Unfortunately, this festival cannot compare with the flair on the streets in other countries.” She would have liked to see more on-site cooking.
The Bonn brass band “Druckluft” brought a dance atmosphere to the front of the Old Town Hall, with confetti cannons and popular classics. The band has existed since the band members’ school days at the Beuel Kardinal Frings secondary school. The 14 musicians, aged between 18 and 25, make about 220 appearances a year. “We have never done anything like this evening,” said trombonist Flo. The band mostly performs during Carnival season. “It’s a great chance to introduce yourself to another audience,” added the 22-year-old.
Retailers were happy with the Sunday shopping. “We have, by comparison, not quite reached the levels of a Saturday, but we had higher sales than on a working day,” said Alfred Westenhöfer, owner of the Puppenkönig toyshop. Sinn managing director Erich Beyersdorff also looked back on a successful weekend. “The bridging day and the large event made it worthwhile.”
(Original text: Sophia Rogalla. Translation: kc)
