The Schueberfouer’s impact on the surrounding area

When two million people visit the countries’ biggest funfair, local restaurants sometimes need additional security and residents have to deal with drunk people urinating on their property.

Since 22 August, the Place du Glacis has been bustling with people visiting the Schueberfouer, shaking up the neighbourhood. When the annual fair takes over, its impact on nearby restaurants, cafés, kiosks, and residents is felt in many ways. For some, it is a welcome boost in their business; for others, it is a test of patience and stamina.

“It is different every year. During Covid, we had a lot more customers, because the fair did not take place, but in the years after almost no one came,” said a waiter who has been working at Siegfried, a restaurant right next to the Schueberfouer’s site, for five years.

The atmosphere, he added, comes with its challenges: loud background noise, more drunk customers and, at times, even the need to borrow the bouncers from nearby nightclub Hitch.

The restaurant’s own waiters are not equipped to deal with the oftentimes very drunk, very rude people and when diplomatic talks will not do, brute force is needed, he said. “That usually works,” said the employee who did not want to be named.

The fair also generates a lot of extra rubbish, he said. “In the mornings, the streets are dirtier than usual,” he said with a shrug, “but they usually clean it up throughout the day.”

The City of Luxembourg employs a team of 16 cleaners who work from 05:00 to 12:00, Monday to Sunday, to clean up the site of the Schueberfouer before the fair opens at noon.

Last year, they collected around 150 tonnes of mixed municipal household rubbish in addition to 66 tonnes of glass, 16 tonnes of paper and five tonnes of biowaste.

A of 16 cleaners works at the Schueberfouer © Photo credit: Guy Jallay

Last year, they collected around 150 tonnes of mixed municipal household rubbish in addition to 66 tonnes of glass, 16 tonnes of paper and five tonnes of biowaste.

The fair is taking place for the 683rd time since its founding in 1340 and has expanded to now include 213 rides and stalls. The event attracts around two million visitors each year.

For a kiosk around the corner from the Schueberfouer the fair means long hours and heavier duties. “We definitely get more customers, especially for snacks and tobacco,” a member of staff told the Luxembourg Times.

“But with that comes more drunk people, more insults and a lot more stress,” he added. With often only one person behind the counter, the workload can feel overwhelming, he said. “The organisation of the fair is good, though, and it brings in many new people.”

After the pandemic – which saw the Schueberfouer cancelled in 2020 and 2021, and hosted in a smaller format in 2022 – the opening times changed. While in 2019, the fair closed its gates at 2:00 on the weekends, since 2023 it closes at 1:00. This eases the strain not only on businesses in the area but also the people living there, said a waiter at Theaterstuff, a small restaurant facing Place du Glacis.

‘I’m truly exhausted’

Even though the fair now closes earlier than in past years, the problems for residents don’t appear to have become less, however.

Jeannelle and her family of four live near the Schueberfouer. People urinate in front of her door, leave their empty bottles on her property and broken glass lies scattered in the street, she said about the weeks of the funfair.

“We hear the screams from the people in the rides from 13:00 until 01:00 every day, the noise of the fair and the nausea smells on hot days,” she told the Luxembourg Times, adding that the visitors park their cars in their driveway or block their garage.

On Hoplr, a social network for neighbourhoods, one user asked for suggestions to sleep better during the long nights of the Schueberfouer.

Screams from rides can be heard throughout the neighbourhood © Photo credit: Eva Krins

“I’m truly exhausted,” they write, “I cannot leave for three weeks, and right now, I don’t see how I can get through this. I understand that the Schueberfouer is a tradition, but this situation is no longer physically or mentally sustainable.”

Traffic and parking are also a problem during the fair. “People driving the wrong way down one-way streets, either out of confusion or impatience, drivers circling for parking, speeding as frustrated drivers accelerate through residential streets – and undoubtedly there are more drunk drivers,” another woman living in the area said in an email.

One track of the tram along Allée Scheffer is closed for the duration of the Schueberfouer, as is the bicycle path right next to it.

Cycling initiative ProVelo in an open letter has complained about the removing of the bike path around the Glacis without offering cyclists a safe alternative.

“This decision not only represents a massive restriction of mobility for many people who rely on bicycles every day – it also sends a devastating signal: that in the City of Luxembourg, leisure activities are valued more than sustainable, safe everyday mobility,” the initiative argues.

Antisocial behaviour

The problems of the Schueberfouer do not stop at traffic, though. “There is a noticeable rise in antisocial behaviour, with men urinating in public which is particularly revolting – in my case, directly in full view from my windows, in broad daylight, and my daughter, who is only six, has now seen this happening more times than I care to count over the last few days”, a resident said in an email.

“The nighttime disturbances are intrusive, with intoxicated individuals ringing doorbells late at night, and making noise, damaging the sense of peace and security in the neighbourhood,” she said.

The police could not indicate how many noise complaints are made specifically linked to the Schueberfouer as this data is not recorded separately from other complaints.

They conduct regular security patrols on the grounds and in the surrounding area. “The ‘Fouerkommissariat’ [a temporary police station on the Glacis grounds, editor’s note] is open daily from 14:00 to 1:00 and is staffed by officers from various departements. The ‘Police Locale’ and other police units are also deployed to ensure their respective missions,” a spokesperson said.

Since last year, officers from the police force are detached to act as a municipal force in Luxembourg City, with further towns in the country joining the initiative launched by the government after it took office in 2023.

Still, residents are tired of the three weeks of noise every year, “While the fair brings joy to many (my daughter and I included!), its impact on the local community, especially in terms of public nuisance, is difficult to ignore,” said the mother in her email.

Visitors at the fair were less concerned by the side effects on the local population. “It’s a tradition,” a passerby told this newspaper.