As of: March 11, 2024, 7:39 a.m
By: Nikolas Pelke
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Xaver and Vincenz Schiller with their children see the family character of the Bergkirchweih at risk due to the city of Erlangen's pricing policy.
© Nikolas Pelke
In less than three months the bear will be dancing again at the Erlanger Bergkirchweih.
Festival hosts fear the end of the family festival because the city is increasingly turning its back.
Erlangen - The mountain is still at rest.
But just a few months before the start of the Erlanger Bergkirchweih, his wails are already blowing through the city unmistakably.
After Erlangen significantly increased the fees, the anticipation of the start of the “fifth season” seems to be gone.
Entla's-Festwirt with a clear message to the city of Erlangen
Hosts like Vincenz Schiller from the popular Entla's Keller fear for the family-friendliness of the folk festival.
“We can't continue like this.
The city must finally get the additional costs under control so that the Bergkirchweih remains affordable for visitors,” says Schiller and calls on the city to cut unnecessary expenses.
“The billing system is like a bill for additional costs between landlord and tenant,” explains the mountain consultant, and immediately receives objections.
The mountain is still resting - in exactly 69 days it should start in Erlangen.
© Nikolas Pelke
“A tenant at least gets a utility bill.
“We, on the other hand, have no insight into the individual positions,” criticizes Schiller and calls for more transparency.
“That would be the first step to reduce costs again in the long term,” says Schiller and fears that prices on the mountain will continue to rise this year.
The mountain festival host and the mountain speaker agree on this.
“The costs of a major event have risen enormously recently and they will probably continue to do so,” fears Beugel almost exactly 69 days before the start of the “fifth season” in Erlangen.
“As organizers, we know what we expect of everyone involved here,” said “mountain speaker” Konrad Beugel (CSU), self-critically commenting on the price increases.
© Nikolas Pelke
The festival hosts are particularly hard hit, as they have to contribute around twice as much to the additional costs for participation, depending on their size.
“As organizers, we know what we expect of everyone involved here,” said the city’s economic advisor, Konrad Beugel, who is responsible for the popular festival, in a self-critical manner.
The amounts are steep, said Beugel after the vote to increase the fees.
The costs incurred during the mountain festival, for example for waste disposal, rescue services and security forces - less a city subsidy - are allocated and divided between the showmen and festival hosts according to certain criteria such as size.
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Mountain lovers see festival culture in acute danger
Friends of the colorful fair under the trees from the “Bergflair” association already see the festival culture in “acute danger” due to the dramatic cost increases.
The showmen will also have to cope with a price jump of around 25 percent for the next “mountain” and will have to pay a total of around 250,000 instead of the previous 200,000 euros in the future.
In recent years, expenses around the mountain have increased by around 20 percent overall, while the space fees for showmen, for example, have remained the same since 2017, the administration defends the increase.
In addition, according to “mountain speaker” Beugel, Erlangen does not cover many cost items such as the personnel costs of the event management or the not insignificant investment costs in the area.
“And the investment costs in particular are in the millions,” Beugel defends the increase and points out that the city’s subsidy for additional costs has even tripled from 50,000 to 150,000 euros.
Otherwise the additional burden would probably have been significantly higher.
Meanwhile, the festival hosts at Entla's Keller hope that the city has recognized the signs of the times and that the price spiral is slowly but surely coming to an end - so that the popular folk festival under the trees does not become an exclusive paid event.
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