Partys, Messen, und Stadtfest

Over the past few weeks and throughout the majority of the semester so far there have been a number of fairs in the Leipzig area. Roughly, three weeks ago there was a gothic festival with venues all around the city for music, drinking, and other trade shows and events. Two weeks ago there was a Bier Feierl on the other side of the river near the monument to The Battle of the Five Nations, and an antiques flee market alongside the Galopprennbahn Scheibenholz, which is an old horse racing track here in the cities’ park. I cherish these events because not only do they give me some entertainment on the weekends but also an introspective glimpse into the lives of the locals and German customs. This past weekend was by far the largest and most extravagant fair

so far, and I have so much to tell you about it.

The Leipziger Stadtfest celebrated the start to summer with a huge gathering of tens of thousands of local Leipzigers and guests from around the country. This year the city celebrated its 30th Leipziger Stadtfest with events held on every Platz in the city. There were several stages to listen to music and bands such as The Firebirds, a rock ’n roll band from Leipzig, the Sax’n Anhalt Orchester, Maja Catrin Fritsche, a German pop

singer, and many more. Alongside the many concerts and performances, hundreds of vendors milled the streets and Plätze selling beer (Bier-Pilsner, Krombacher, etc…), ice cream (Eis), Curywurst, Bratwurst, Crêpes, a surprising amount of waffle (Waffeln) booths, Kartoffelpuffer (if you can imagine potato pancakes), coffee (Kaffee) of course, pop-up Bäckereien with different types of Brot, Kuchen, and much more. With thousands of people throughout the city at the Stadtfest there was always something to do. My favorite was probably the Waffel I had. I’ve never seen waffles sold outside of diners anywhere in the US, except for at ski mountains in the east we have little shacks called “The Waffel Cabin” and they sell Belgium waffles, very good I will add. However, when I ordered a waffle from a booth at the Stadtfest it was not really a waffle but more of a waffle sandwich, with two waffles and some type of whipped cream between. It may have been a little messy but was delicious! Besides food and performances there were also a few carnivals set up in some Platz. In front of the main center of campus on Augustusplatz there was a massive ferris wheel, other little games, and even an NFL attraction that was plastered with Patriots logos (clearly the Germans know who to support). In another Platz there were a few more carnival rides, arcade games, BUMPER CARS, a mirror maze, and lots of your generic carnival booths and candy shacks. At night the Pläze lit up in a rainbow of colors and it looked spectacular. Believe it or not there was even more going on at the Stadtfest. On Saturday night Redbull Leipzig (Leipzig’s Fußball Bundesliga team) played in the DFB-Pokal championship game against Eintracht Frankfurt and were victorious with a 2-0 win. They won the title last year too so they triumphed and defended their reign this season. Unfortunately, I did not watch the game in Red Bull Stadium, RBL’s stadium here in Leipzig, as the final was played at Olympiastadion in Berlin. Instead the city came together to cheer on their team on an LED screen in Marktplatz (the very center of the city). The crowd was absolutely massive and very rowdy. The Fußball spirit here in Germany is huge and once Szoboszlai (Dominik Szoboszlai, midfielder for RBL) scored the second goal in the 85th minute, securing the win for RBL, the city went berserk. IT was truly an amazing spectacle and was so intriguing to watch the cities dedication and support for their team. I am grateful to be able to take part in such a unique experience! It is nothing I ever expected to get involved in before but am glad I am here to join in the festivities.

Over the weekend the city was thriving and the people were wild. It was great to see the city so lively and how special summer is to the German people. Almost every weekend seems like a party and its a truly ecstatic and splendid atmosphere. Everyone always views the German people as very rigid, strict, and curt, however, I’m glad I am able to show that Germans are not like that all. They are very affable, resolute, and exhilarating people. In the US I rarely ever see events like this, much less occurring every weekend, and I’ve grown up 20 minutes outside of Boston. I am grateful to be living in a city and being able to experience so much in such a short amount of time. It feels like I got here only yesterday but it has been over three months and I’ll be done with school in just over a month!! I can’t believe it!

I have not checked to see what the city has planned for the upcoming month that I have left here, but I am planning some trips around other countries in Europe so stay tuned for my next adventure! Tschüss.

June 9th, 2023