Live music acts and ferris wheel Rhine in Flames program for 2023 in Bonn is set

Bonn · Bonn event organizer Jürgen Harder says: "The Rhine in Flames program which takes place on land is all set." He has already signed more than 200 contracts for the Rheinaue, music acts and ferris wheel are booked.

 At the Rhine in Flames land event, the Rheinaue is transformed into a festival area with three stages and a ferris wheel, seen here in 2017.

At the Rhine in Flames land event, the Rheinaue is transformed into a festival area with three stages and a ferris wheel, seen here in 2017.

Foto: Benjamin Westhoff

Organizer Jürgen Harder has sealed his contribution to Rhein in Flammen 2023. A contract with the city of Bonn is in place, the bands for the stage program in Bonn's Rheinaue are booked. "The land event will definitely take place, if necessary as Rheinaue in Flammen," Harder told the GA on Thursday.

The Rhine in Flames brand is in fact owned by Bonner Tourismus und Congress GmbH (T&C), which is currently putting a big question mark on the future of the event. The co-organizer has made no effort in recent days to counter the impression that Rhine in Flames is in danger. After the cancellation of the Cologne Lights event and the signal from neighboring municipalities that they do not want to pay for T&C's deficits, the only comment was: no comment. Before the conclusion of the talks in the coming week, they did not want to say anything.

Event organizers do not want Rhine in Flames to die out

Those who are already making concrete plans for the major event on the first weekend in May 2023 have no understanding for this position. "I offered: If you can't get the convoy of ships/boats on track, we'll do it. We're not going to let the event die," Harder says. As was the case last time in 2019, normally it is he who organizes the land program in cooperation with Rheinevents and the Green Juice festival organizers Julian and Simon Reininger. It plans for up to 150,000 visitors.

T&C was responsible for the ship convoy and the lighting on the banks of the Rhine, financed by the fireworks tax from the up to 15,000 ship passengers. Sponsors financed the music-synchronized fireworks in the Rheinaue. Due to the Covid pandemic, the big festival which kicks off the tourist season in the region, was canceled three times.

All contracts have already been concluded

From Harder's point of view, there is no reason to cancel Rhine in Flames again this year - unless there is a legal reason, such as a corona protection ordinance prohibiting large events. "We have concluded 200 contracts, from the ferris wheel to the Poffertjes booth, we can not simply cancel them again," reports Harder. In total, he says, the land event has a volume of around half a million euros. "The biggest financial risk is therefore borne by us as the on-land marketer," says Harder.

He does not yet want to reveal which bands will perform. What is certain, however, is that the Panama Open Air Festival by Rheinevents will once again take place on the electronic stage on Friday. On the big stage, well-known cover bands will play on Friday and greats of the Cologne music scene on Saturday. At the Brückenmarkt, the Green Juice fest organizers will provide rock, pop and new bands.

Rico Fenoglio, managing director of the event agency Wanted GmbH, has opened up ticket sales on the first and so far only party ship for Rhine in Flames. He also bears a financial risk, because he not only rents the ship, but also has to calculate the tickets for Rhine in Flames completely differently than for after-job parties on the Rhine. For the seats on the MS Rheinfantasie alone, he pays around 10,000 euros in fireworks tax.

The ship operators also need planning security

Until now, the amount (for fireworks) was eleven euros per ticket. If one calculates the total based on 12,000 tickets to be sold for 50 large and small ships, 132,000 euro would be collected. It is not the municipalities between Bonn and Linz, but rather "the ship tickets which finance the main part of the accompanying fireworks, security services and Bengal fires on land," says Fenoglio. That is why planning security is also so important for the organizers of the party and theme ships.

After more than 20 years of Rhine in Flames, Jürgen Harder has so much experience that he is confident of organizing the ship convoy and making arrangements with the Water and Shipping Authority. "It may not be 50 ships like in the past, but we will definitely find more ships to participate," says the organizer. The Bonner Personen Schiffahrt (BPS) has kept the date May 6, 2023, free for Rhine in Flames in any case, according to board member Clemens Schmitz.

Orig. text: Bettina Köhl

Translation: ck

Meistgelesen
Neueste Artikel
Zum Thema
Rettet Rhein in Flammen
Kommentar zu Großveranstaltungen am Rhein Rettet Rhein in Flammen
Aus dem Ressort