Kölner Lichter also canceled in 2022 - chances for the next few years decrease

Created: 01/12/2022, 1:55 PM

By: Benjamin Stroka

The Cologne Lights are a highlight in Cologne every year, but will not take place for the third time in a row in 2022 due to Corona (archive picture).

© Henning Kaiser / dpa

The Cologne Lights will not take place in 2022 either.

The organizers have canceled the huge fireworks again - and give several reasons.

Cologne - The Cologne Lights were a highlight in the cathedral city every year.

Fireworks spectacles, music and the almost majestic-looking and illuminated ships on the Rhine - the Cologne lights regularly provided spectacular images.

All the more bitter the news that the Cologne Lights will not be able to take place in 2022 either.

The organizers officially announced this on Wednesday.

Kölner Lichter 2022: Organizers cancel fireworks again

“Despite all our efforts, we will not be able to hold the Cologne Lights in 2022 either,” explains the team at the responsible event office Werner Nolden GmbH. The organizers emphasize that three reasons are responsible for the renewed cancellation. The financing for the event in Cologne is still not guaranteed. "In addition, due to the renewed ban on fireworks on New Year's Eve 2021/22, companies in the pyrotechnic industry, above all our closest partner, Weco, have got into difficult waters," it continues.

The company Weco, which is based in Eitorf (Rhein-Sieg district), is currently unable to take part in a major event such as the Cologne Lights due to the difficult situation.

"In addition, there is the pandemic situation, which with Omikron will presumably lead to an increase in the number of infections in the coming weeks and this with an uncertain outcome," writes Werner Nolden GmbH.

Cologne Lights 2022: Will the fireworks never take place again?

Cologne Lights

The Cologne Lights have taken place every summer in Cologne since 2001. The fireworks are the largest music-synchronized fireworks in all of Europe. Usually around 4.5 tons of pyrotechnics and fireworks are burned down each year. The main fireworks take place between the bastion and the dance fountain. For the last edition in 2019, around 300,000 spectators came to the Rhine in Cologne.

This means that the Cologne Lights will not take place for the third time in a row.

The last time the spectacle lit up the night sky over Cologne and Cologne Cathedral in 2019.

The next scheduled date would currently be July 15, 2023 - if the Cologne lights return at all.

Because: The "chance of a new beginning" decreases "with every year of failure", emphasize the organizers.

Still, they remain optimistic.

“However, we do not lose hope!

Giving up is not an option for us. ”That should at least give the fans of the fireworks show some optimism.