Germany: Church, Funfair and Cultural Traditions – Paderborn Celebrates 500 Years of Libori
The Libori Festival, which has religious origins, is one of the largest and oldest popular festivals in Germany. The church and the city use it to celebrate the arrival of the bones of St. Liborius, the patron saint of Paderborn Cathedral, the diocese and the city, in 836. After a two-year break due to the pandemic, the city of Paderborn has finally started the traditional Libori Festival again on the weekend. For nine days, Paderborn celebrates this festival, which attracts visitors from near and far with a fascinating mix of ecclesiastical festivities and secular fun. Impressive ceremonies and processions bring history to life, and a colourful market and fair with many cultural highlights invites you to celebrate. Well over one million visitors are expected in the East Westphalian city this week.
Libori 2022 is set to be a special one, as it will celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Libori funfair. The centrepiece of this secular part of the festival is not only the 1.6-kilometre-long funfair mile with almost 150 fairground businesses on the Liboriberg, but also the Libori Market, also known as the “Pottmarkt”, with 140 stalls on the Marktplatz and Domplatz. In addition, there are around 80 stalls in the city center and – uniquely this year because of the anniversary – a historical market around the cathedral.
The eye-catcher of the funfair is the “Movie Star 2” giant wheel (Mondial), where visitors can enjoy a magnificent view over Paderborn’s city center. With the 80-metre high “Jules Verne Tower” (Funtime), the world’s highest mobile and uniquely themed StarFlyer comes to Paderborn. Breathtaking will also be the visits to the “Break Dancer” (Huss), the “Drifting Coaster” roller coaster (Reverchon), the “Jetlag” flyer (Tivoli Manufacturing) and the “The Beast” spectacular flight station (Technical-Park). With the children’s “Tom the Tiger” roller coaster, the impressive “Chaos Factory” fun house and the “Castle Dracula” ghost train ride, Libori fans who are not so experienced with flying will also get their money’s worth. And of course, the traditional rides, such as the “Paderborner Pferdekarussell Anno 1886” (Paderborn Horse Carousel Anno 1886), a more than 100-year-old merry-go-round with lovingly painted wooden horses and carriages, and funfair classics such as “Autoscooter” (Bumper Cars), “Musik-Express” (Mack Rides) and “Wellenflieger” (Zierer) will also be at the Paderborn Libori Festival. The chairman of the Paderborn Showmen’s Association, Hans-Otto Bröckling, is happy that after the two Corona years there can finally be a proper celebration again, but he is also enthusiastic about the mixture: “The nice thing about Libori is also that it is such a cross-generational festival”. (eap)
