Berlin
Last weekend of the May Days in the Hasenheide

The May Days in Berlin’s Hasenheide are entering the final this weekend. It will be the last time that the fair takes place in the park. After that, the green area should recover. A petition by the showmen is campaigning for the traditional folk festival to be saved and moved to the neighboring Tempelhofer Feld. “If the Neuköllner Maientage have to disappear from the district, people will miss another festival that is loved by all sections of the population and across all cultures in the district,” says the appeal. Fireworks are planned for the finale on Saturday evening, the last day of celebration is Sunday.

The Neukölln District Mayor Martin Hikel (SPD) said he wanted to keep the May Days as a big folk festival. He is in discussion with various members of the Senate. “The success of this year’s May Days shows how important such events are for Berlin. I am therefore pleased that understanding is also growing in the Senate.” He would therefore prefer to continue the May Days on the Tempelhofer Feld. “I’ll be having more talks on that over the next few weeks. We need a solution by autumn.”

Hasenheide is doing badly. “Years of drought endanger what is perhaps a unique green space in Neukölln: 50 hectares of park in the middle of some of the most densely populated neighborhoods in Berlin.” The park should probably be preserved as a local recreation area. That’s why the district applied to the federal government for a 5 million euro project to raise the Hasenheide to new climatic conditions. “More shade, less evaporation, new, more resistant tree varieties – these are some of the issues we are now tackling to convert the Hasenheide.”

dpa