Image: Fair Wels
Even 145 years after its founding, the attraction of the Welser Volksfest is unbroken. Trade fair director Robert Schneider gives a positive assessment of the traditional event and the two trade fairs “Blooming Austria” and “Holiday and Excursion”, which ended yesterday. Around 60,000 visitors came on the three days of the fair. “The interest was comparable to the pre-Corona year 2019, when we had the last good trade fair,” says Schneider. After the cancellation of 2020 and the autumn format 21, which did not work well, the spring fair 2022 had to be built within four weeks.
This year, the concept with a garden and holiday fair worked very well again. The halls were full, as was the marquee, where visitors stood in the aisles and from there commuted between the beer tent, wine village and wine tasting. In between, many were looking for an adrenaline rush with a ride on one of the numerous fairground rides.
“I was there myself on Saturday until just after midnight, it was a very good atmosphere, you could tell the people were happy and enjoying the folk festival,” says Exhibition Director Schneider. Landlord Ludwig Kleinlehner is happy about increased beer sales compared to the previous year, despite higher prices.
The new concept of the garden designers, who presented their show gardens in Hall 6 in a “black box”, met with divided opinions. For some visitors it was just too dark there, others thought the idea was cool and creative.
Some visitors from the caravan area were missing, as this year there was only a small exhibition area for campers. “But the exhibitors were satisfied because a lot of newcomers to camping had come,” says Schneider. There was great visitor interest in the stands for the holiday regions in Austria and Bavaria and in the tips for excursions. “It is also remarkable that this year many more visitors came from other federal states, including many Tyroleans, for example from Lech am Arlberg, who went to Wels especially,” says Schneider happily.
Source: Nachrichten
