KIRMES & Park REVUE (English) Special Ikarus (Vorschau)

HAANER KIRMES
Text: Michael Petersen
The 625 th anniversary Haan Fair is to be
merrily celebrated this year from September
23 rd to 27 th with many special events,
an additional opening day, a historical
market, and a small exhibition at the
premises of the Sparkasse bank.
The fair event, which is traditionally celebrated
in the town centre, is the highlight in the
calendar of events in the garden city located
between Wuppertal and Düsseldorf. A
35,000 m 2 area will be occupied by fairground
attractions of all kinds, amounting to
a front length of about 2,000 metres. The
largest fair event in the Bergisches Land region
has always been happily celebrated,
and ranks among the autumn events in
North-Rhine Westphalia that boast the highest
turnover. Rainer Skroblies from the Haan
town authorities has successfully organised
the event for many years, always carefully
choosing novelty attractions for this venue,
while at the same time also approving regular
participants.
To mark the occasion of the anniversary, the
Haan Fair will be opened already on Friday
at 6 p.m. An hour earlier, an ecumenical
church service will be held in the Catholic
Church in the Köngisstraße. This will be followed
by a festival procession with a nostalgic
tractor and many traditional flags, which
will proceed to the Ferris Wheel, where the
625 th Haan Fair will be officially opened. Additionally
, a minor anniversary exhibition with
historic mounts and numerous pictures of the
Haan Fair will be held on the premises of the
Sparkasse bank. This year, a historical market
on the Königsstraße will be both the heart,
and the most impressive feature of the
event. An ample fairground with
nostalgic rides will be built up in the
centre of a park, including attractions
such as the Caterpillar Ride
(Steiger/Buchholz), Gallopers (Fellerhoff),
Ferris Wheel (Feldmann), “Der
Selbstfahrer” (Müller), “Land des
Lächelns” (Steiger/Buchholz), a
Punch and Judy Show (Wilmering),
and “Hau den Lukas” (Schmidt),
along with tractors, baggage vans
and caravans, as well as a colourful
mixture of nostalgic concession stalls.
Sixteen large ride and funhouse attractions
were chosen for the anniversary
event, including three novelties
for Haan: the “Aqua-Labyrinth” (Markmann),
“Salto Mortale”
(Gusowski/Langenberg), and the
family coaster “Willy der Wurm”
(Roos). While the two annually changing
sites will be occupied by the
“Breakdance No.2” (Bonner) and the
dodgem track “Drive In” (Schmidt),
the following attractions will be deployed
on the Kaiserstraße and the
market: “Südsee-Wellen” (Barth), the
Ferris Wheel “Wonder Wheel”
(Bruch/Schneider), “Octopussy”
(Markmann), “Bayernwippe”
(Krüger), “Turbo Force” (Schäfer),
Wave-Swinger (Hanstein), “Schloss
Dracula” (Schütze), “Looping the
Loop” (Von Olnhausen), “Phoenix”
(Gusowski), and the Musik Express
(Krause). Moreover, younger visitors
will be able to enjoy thirteen different
kiddie rides this year.
On Sunday, interested visitors will be
able to participate in a backstage tour:
Details and terms of participation are
available at www.haaner-kirmes.de
On Saturday, the city authorities, the
showmen and the bakeries will invite
120 seniors to the traditional plum
cake eating event. On Monday at 9:30
a.m., a church service will be held at
the dodgem track, and the evening
will be dedicated to the motto: “Golden
Oldies”. On Tuesday evening, the
fair event will be closed with a fireworks
display. The opening hours at
the Haan Fair: Friday from 6 p.m., Saturday
and Tuesday from 2 p.m., Sunday
from 11 a.m., and on Monday
from 10 a.m. for the 'early tipple'
event.
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