So entschied sich der Bürgerverein 1958, erstmals ein eigenes Festzelt zu
In 1958, the Bürgerverein decided to set up its own marquee for the first time. A narrow strip of shoreline was found on the Leinritt below the former Dominican monastery, where it can still be found today on the Kerwa.
However, since the bank area at this point is too narrow for this, half of the marquee was built on a wooden construction above the Regnitz.
The installation of a festival marquee was to remain the exception in the following years, because the guiding principle of the Bürgerverein that the Sandkirchweih should be celebrated as an open-air street festival was not to be deviated from in the following decades. For various reasons, such as the constant growth of the offer of music and bar areas, the marquee at least in the evening fell more and more into a Sleeping Beauty’s sleep and aroused the interest of the older audience. With the elimination of the stage at Katzenberg and Grünhundsbrunnen, the marquee has experienced a kind of renaissance in recent years and has become a popular meeting place for friends of live music on the Kerwa again.
The Sandkerwa®, a celebration for young and old
In 1957, under the direction of the Hausfrauenbund am Katzenberg, Leinritt, in the old Fleischhalle am Kranen and in the schoolyard of the Martinschule in the Fischerei, a children’s party was held for the first time on Kerwas Thursday. Whether sausage snapping, marionette theatre or children’s dance, for the little ones Thursday afternoon has been the highlight of Kerwa ever since.
Especially the appearance of the Bamberger Kasperl® in the marquee at the Leinritt is indispensable. Since 1967, the puppet theatre Herrnleben has been making children’s hearts beat faster year after year with new stories. The Punch and Judy, Seppel, the policeman and the grandmother are just as important as the “Tri-Tra-Trullala”, which has been popular for generations. After the performance, balloons and milk have always been provided for the children.
With the children’s festival on Thursday afternoon, the Kerwa is opened unofficially, in the evening with the mayor’s beer tapping ( 7 pm) in the marquee officially.
(cover: ©Hans Herrnleben, private archiv)
