When there’s a fair elsewhere, the children are allowed to come along. In Lückerath, it’s been the other way around for nearly half a century: here, they take center stage. From Friday, the 18th, through Sunday, the 20th of September, the village community invites everyone to the 47th annual Children’s Fair—featuring music, dancing, games, and a full family program.

The festivities kick off on Friday with a kids’ disco in the former half-timbered gymnasium of this village of 300 residents—a building that, in its first “life,” once served as a locomotive shed at the “Op Spandau” lead mine. The next evening, the adults take over: On Saturday starting at 8 p.m., the fair ball in the current village hall will feature dancing and revelry to live music.

From a Pirate Ship to a Dino Egg

The actual Children’s Fair takes place on Sunday, September 20, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with free admission. Then Lückerath will once again transform into a giant playground. A bounce house and carousel are on the program, as are a pillow fight and hobbyhorse races. Budding buccaneers can try their luck in the pirate ship sailing race, and there will also be duck fishing, a children’s raffle, and dinosaur egg cracking.
There will also be plenty of musical entertainment on Sunday: the Sistig Music Association, children’s songwriter Uwe Reetz, the Big Band of the Marienschule Euskirchen, and the “Lustige Eifelländer” band have all announced their participation. Starting at 5 p.m., Achim Pütz will take the stage for an open-ended set.

For hungry children, parents, and grandparents, there will be a snack bar, a hamburger stand, and a cafeteria serving fresh waffles. What once began as a festival for the village’s children has been drawing families from all over the region to Lückerath since the 1970s.

Many people from outside the village lend a hand

According to Matthias Kesternich of the organizing village community, the fact that the children’s fair is still going strong after nearly 50 years is primarily due to the volunteer efforts of many helpers, including those from outside the village of Lückerath: It is precisely the combination of “tradition, village community, and a program specifically for families” that gives the children’s fair its special character.
A portion of the proceeds goes to a charitable cause benefiting children and young people. In recent years, for example, the Friends of the Local Catholic Elementary School on Bleiberg and the Bleibuir Youth Fire Department have benefited from these funds.

Time: Fri. 6:00–10:00 p.m. Kids’ Disco, Sat. 8:00 p.m. Fair Ball, Sun. 11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Cost: Free
Location: Mechernich-Lückerath, Hochstraße
Info phone: 02443. 2578
Email: info@puenderhof.de