In pyrotechnics, a firework that is ignited but does not explode is considered a non-starter. Great tension without a bang, that’s just how it is sometimes.
The most recent meeting of the Ingolstadt events committee could also have had a bang. In a joint motion, the SPD, Greens, ÖDP and the Independent Voters’ Association called for a ban on fireworks at the two annual folk festivals. Because the celestial spectacle causes noise and fine dust and disturbs the animals in the area, the showmen should rather offer “a laser show or drone light show”. This is already how it is done in some other municipalities. But in the end the planned hit fizzled out.
Instead of voting for its own proposal for a ban, the SPD, together with the CSU, Free Voters and Co., spoke out in favor of leaving everything as it was: There should continue to be crashes and lightning over the Ingolstadt Volksfestplatz four times a year. The city administration had pushed for this.
According to the city, the previous costs would have quadrupled as a result of a drone or light show: from 16,000 to around 60,000 euros. But the showmen who finance the fireworks don’t want to pay that much. So the SPD changed course. You can keep the idea “in the back of your mind” in case there is more money in the till again.
Regardless of the question of whether there are cheaper alternatives to shooting rockets, one suspicion arises: Could it be that Mayor Christian Scharpf’s (SPD) people have simply lost their courage? The socialists can just watch comfortably as the local CSU dismantles itself two years before the next town hall election. Why burn your fingers in an explosive ban debate? Group leader Christian De Lapuente contradicts that it was all about the high costs. “Otherwise we wouldn’t have submitted the application at all.” In any case, on Wednesday the group dropped their idea, which was a dud.
This surprised our colleagues in the Greens, who voted for the joint project – and are now once again seen as a ban party. Yes, she would like to see a departure from the climate and environmentally damaging fireworks tradition, says Stephanie Kürten from the Greens after the meeting. The banging is no longer up to date. “We used to have dancing bears at events, but they don’t exist anymore.”