Two days before the start of the 58th Spring Festival, it is not yet very spring-like on the Theresienwiese. Despite the rain and cold, the Munich Showmen event company (VMS) invited people to the press conference. VMS spokeswoman Yvonne Heckl welcomes some representatives of around 100 approved festival businesses in the heated tent of the wheat beer garden. This year it has moved to the opposite side of the festival grounds, and a number of other innovations will also be presented.
But first the welcome round. In his greeting, patron and speaker for labor and economics Clemens Baumgärtner takes a swipe at other German folk festivals: “Compared to cities like Hamburg, it’s simply more comfortable here in Munich. We have quality shops.” If he wanted to comment on the “Höllenblitz” roller coaster, in which passengers got stuck on Hamburg Cathedral a few days ago and had to be freed by rescuers, he was scoring an own goal. Just last year, the same ride made headlines with a rear-end collision on the first day of the Oktoberfest.
Speaking of Oktoberfest: The hosts of the two festival tents at the spring festival, Tina Krätz for the Hippodrom and Peter Schöniger for the Festhalle Bayernland, also appeared at the press conference. The latter has been represented with its tent at the Spring Festival for 33 years and has also applied for the Oide Wiesn this year. Possibly with success, because according to the city’s points catalog, Schöniger is ahead and could push Beppi Bachmaier’s Herzkasperl tent off the field. A petition that wants to save the Herzkasperlzelt with its varied music program has already collected 11,000 signatures.
This year there will be vegetarian and vegan dishes in the Bayernland festival hall, the mass will cost 12.80 euros and there will be “beautiful, constant brass music,” announces Schöniger. The star guest appearances by DJ Ötzi and Mickie Krause should not fall into this category. Schöniger does not want to answer any questions from the SZ about his cultural program at the Oidn Wiesn or his application for the Wiesn in general before the press conference. After the announcement of Ötzi and Krause, he made it clear: “I will not demonstrate a Ballermann concept. That is dictated by customs and tradition.”
Customs and tradition are probably also the driving forces in dealing with cannabis at the spring festival. The Bavarian government’s decision from the previous day to ban cannabis consumption at festivals, among other things, does not yet apply to the spring festival. And according to the so-called Bubatz map, which shows where it is now legal in Germany, smoking weed would largely be allowed on Theresienwiese. But you can see from a display that the organizers have also decided to ban weed. Unfortunately, the word “Cannabis” was written on it with an “N”, which is why a wall of beer mugs is simply pushed in front of the display and the annoying topic still has to be addressed.
New rides, familiar events
Clemens Baumgärtner finds this discussion “really funny”. For him, cannabis doesn’t fit into the spring festival any more than it does the Oktoberfest. This is inappropriate at a festival where two family afternoons are advertised, he says. To anticipate critics, he made it clear that none of the beer representatives present were glorifying the enjoyment of alcohol. “Enjoyment” is the key word here, not abuse. Then he created an insert that could also be described as “really funny”. He conducts a spontaneous survey among press representatives to find out who smokes cannabis themselves. When no one answers, he concludes: “I find that astonishing, everyone is interested in smoking weed and no one smokes weed. Relax!”
Economics officer Clemens Baumgärtner presenting the Spring Festival program.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
So you can’t relax with cannabis at the spring festival this year, but you can relax with rides that are represented for the first time, such as the family carousel “Montgolfière”, the classic “Top Spin No.1”, which rolls over several axes, or the “Willenborg” Ferris wheel, which is familiar from “Summer in the City” on Königsplatz.
Also new at the spring festival is the Distel family’s bumper car, where the showman’s service with baptism will be held for the first time this year. As always, the giant flea market takes place on the first Saturday from 7 a.m., the next day the classic car meeting, and a week later the customs day. In addition to the two family afternoons, there are two evenings with fireworks. This year’s spring festival runs from April 19th to May 5th and starts on the Friday after the parade at 4 p.m. in the Hippodrome.