For flea market fans it should be a sad day. Normal car traffic instead of bargain hunters in masses, closed shops instead of hundreds of stalls. For the first time in almost half a century, Kaiserstraße will not become a promenade with many thousands of visitors. The Vohwinkel flea market will not take place and some sellers opt to sell at car boot sale events (you can also find them via this online car boot directory).

For some time there had been speculation about the implementation of the major event. Financial bottlenecks caused considerable problems for the organizers. In this respect, the negative development is no surprise, but especially for the Vohwinkeler bitter. There is no substitute for the flea market, which was originally planned for 29 September. At the last failure seven years ago, Aktion V had been able to extend its Vohwinkel day to Sunday. Due to the short lead time, this was not feasible this time. So it remains with a completely unused Kaiserstraße.

Flea market organizer Frank Varoquier is contrite. “It really hurts,” he says. Until the end, his team had fought for the preservation of the junk spectacle. “Unfortunately, we did not manage to raise the necessary financial resources,” said the chairman of the Vohwinkel flea market association.

It is still unclear who will develop the concept

According to the board, the costs for the next edition would have amounted to about 35,000 euros. This was not possible for the volunteers, especially since part of the old debts still have to be settled. For Frank Varoquier, disillusionment prevails. “In the end, an event of this magnitude is not manageable for private individuals like us in the long term,” admits the chairman. Without the help of the city or other external support, it would not work. Nevertheless, Varoquier wants to do everything to make the flea market take place again in 2020. “I am open to any suggestion,” says the organizer.

District Mayor Heiner Fragemann (SPD) is also pursuing the goal of a continuation next year. He also wants to hold talks with other actors: “Maybe we need to think about alternative concepts and a smaller format.” Nicole Stöcker, chairwoman of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Vohwinkeler Vereine (AGVV), has a similar view. “You could go back to the roots,” she suggests. Corresponding participation of the working group is quite conceivable. However, the chairwoman categorically rejects a takeover of the flea market organization in the previous order of magnitude by the AGVV. In October, there will be another discussion about the future of the Vohwinkel flea market. The city has invited me to this.

The first flea market took place on a modest scale in 1971 on Lienhardstraße and was organized by Aktion V. Later, the working group took over the event and included the Kaiserstraße. In the following years, the flea spectacle attracted more and more visitors, which in 1983 led to an award as the largest flea market with 350,000 visitors in the Guinness Book of Records. Due to significantly stricter safety regulations, the AGVV withdrew from the organization. There was no flea market in 2012. Since 2013, the association around Frank Varoquier was responsible for the implementation.

 

ALSO READ: Migrants Can Only Get Cleaning Jobs in Germany