The Shocker celebrates its premiere Pützchen's market attracts fair lovers with new features
Bonn · The biggest fair around, held the second weekend of September, is getting into gear. This year it will lure visitors with some new features. For a fair that is 652 years old, that is no small feat.
It is a challenge to keep making a fair attractive year after year with new highlights when it is celebrating its 652nd anniversary. But the City of Bonn has succeeded once again in bringing in new fairground attractions to Pützchen's Markt, which will run September 6 to 10. On Thursday, fair director Harald Borchert presented some new features and also changes to Beuel's district mayor Guido Déus during a tour of the fairgrounds.
"Shocker" is the name of a ghostly amusement ride celebrating its premiere in Pützchen. The ride stood for many years at the Oktoberfest in Munich, was then sold and modernized. Marcel Böttger from Hamburg now takes on its new start, bringing the ride to Pützchens Markt as a young entrepreneur. Asked why he came to Bonn from Hamburg, he replied: "Pützchen's Markt enjoys a very good reputation in the fair industry. I would like to inspire fairgoers with my ride.”
Even tried and tested bestsellers such as the Bavarian Tent have come up with a new idea. Festival host Jan Patrik Wolters from Bremen will build it bigger and different than usual this time around. "The base of the main tent is 55 by 40 meters plus an awning. This means that instead of 2,700 guests like last year, 3,500 people will now fit into the tent," explained Wolters. He also turned the tent by 90 degrees. “As a result, guests will no longer look into a narrow tent but rather into a wide one when entering it." With the enlargement of the tent, he is responding to the wish of many guests who, especially on the Rhine evening on Sunday, September 8, will stream into the tent from 5:30 p.m. with free admission to experience Bläck Fööss, Cat Ballou, Klüngelköpp, Schäng and Druckluft, popular German bands.
According to Harald Borchert, 40 per cent of all rides and stalls are already on the fairgrounds: "Last year's event space was not that well filled. Nevertheless - in the next few days the operation will become even more hectic. The employees of the marketing office are well equipped: They have moved their desks from the city to the fair. “From there they coordinate the setup and try to solve all problems on site." Fair expert Michael Mierzowski presented five new e-bikes that the city has rented for the duration of the fair. This means that the employees can travel faster on the fairgrounds.
In order to be able to endure the long working days in the office container, the municipal employees are spoiled daily by a fairground resident who brings them homemade cakes. Trudi Dederichs is something like the good soul of Pützchen's market. And district mayor Déus suggested that the administration place an air conditioner in the container. (Orig. text: Holger Willcke, Translation: ck)
