Status: 08/12/2023 10:24 p.m
The M’era Luna at the airfield in Hildesheim-Drispenstedt has started. A report on the preparations for the festival with acts like VV, In Extremo, Mono Inc., Subway to Sally and Joachim Witt.
According to the organizer, the largest festival of the so-called black scene in Europe is a mecca for metal, goth, medieval and dark wave fans. There have been almost 25,000 spectators so far – and there are only a few tickets left. In bright sunshine, NDR reporter Svenja Estner mingled with the dark crowd of the festival.
M’era Luna: Funky paddling pools and lots of black clothing
Year after year, metal, goth, medieval and dark wave fans meet at M’era Luna in Hildesheim-Drispenstedt.
You can hear the music from afar and at the latest when entering the airport square it is clear that this is the M’era Luna Festival: black clothing dominates for most visitors. Some are still pitching their tents, others have already made themselves comfortable: Sven, who doesn’t want to give his last name, is sitting in a somewhat unconventional paddling pool: “We’re sitting in an old Soviet inflatable boat, we just took it with us, so that we are prepared for any weather.”
He has been to the M’era Luna many times. His girlfriend Denise is in the boat with him. She was at this festival for the last time in 2017 and appreciates the community above all: “I don’t know of any festival that is like M’era Luna, with so many people who present themselves so nicely and are up for it. Here it is Even if you are accepted as you are, you can do whatever you want.”
Further information
Gothic fans celebrate the festival in Hildesheim-Drispenstedt. > streams numerous acts. Today from 4.15 p.m. we continue with the ice cream factory. more
“Such a great community here”
Within Temptation were also at the M’era Luna Festival in 2019.
But there are also inexperienced festival-goers. Chris Seidelmann from Passau is a big Within Temptation fan. He is experiencing his first M’era Luna this year and thus his first festival ever: “I’m so overwhelmed, it’s such a great community here.”
Christa Büttner and her husband Manfred have become an institution on the airfield site: in their own dressing tent, they transform themselves into mystical figures with outfits they have tailored themselves. She in a kind of evil angel and he in an elegant gentleman with a fancy decorated hat: “It starts with the scales, that’s the birth. Then it’s all over, you get married, you have children, there are photos on it and at some point comes death. If you have really loved each other honestly up to that point, then love will remain until after death,” explains Büttner.
This headdress made of wood and Plexiglas weighs almost eight kilos. Lisa Marie Luna, as the woman in the tight, strapless red plaid dress with vinyl corsage and platform boots calls herself, professes her “dark side” with her second suit. The character comes from the horror film “It” based on the book by Stephen King: “There’s a Pennywise, it’s a clown with a red balloon.” Since she sewed most of it herself, it took her about an hour to get dressed and apply her make-up.
Stephan Thanscheidt – “Lord” over the festival city
Stephan Thanscheidt is the master of the small town that has grown on the festival grounds within two weeks. He’s an old hand in the festival industry, has that too Hurricane-Festival under his wing. The M’era Luna is something special for him: “It’s a big family that comes together very faithfully every year. That’s something that we don’t have in this form at other festivals that we also do.”
To ensure that the music program meshes so harmoniously, he and his team plan the coming year immediately after the festival. That’s not so easy in the current situation with the high prices everywhere and the resulting increase in artists’ fees: “In the end, it’s just our skill to get a good mix – of the ticket prices that people can pay and to counteract the production costs and similar stories coming our way. It’s quite a tightrope walk, has never been so close and so difficult as it is now. But we managed it anyway.”
By the way, even the weather played its part, according to Thanscheidt: no constant rain like at the Wacken Festival. Well, then nothing stands in the way of a successful M’era Luna.
NDR Kultur broadcasts numerous acts in the video stream on >. Click here for the current overview and times.
Further information
After a two-year break, the black scene meets at the M’era Luna in Hildesheim. Hardly any festival is more diverse. more
The festival in Hildesheim offers spectacular side shows. Here are the highlights from festival photographer Benjamin Hüllenkremer. picture gallery
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NDR Culture | The Morning | 08/12/2023 | 7:40 a.m