“Rhein in Flammen” will also be available in 2023, but only in an abridged version. The event will only take place in Bonn, without a ship convoy.
Bonn – The popular event “Rhein in Flammen” will take place again in 2023. This has been confirmed by the city of Bonn and Tourismus & Congress GmbH. The city of Bonn will also provide 40,000 euros for this. However, there are some changes and limitations from previous years.
Rhein in Flammen 2023 will take place, but only in Bonn
In the coming year, “Rhein in Flammen” will only be available “in a spatially reduced version”. In concrete terms, this means that the event will only take place in Bonn in 2023. There will be no ship convoy between Bonn (NRW) and Linz (Rhineland-Palatinate) via various neighboring municipalities. The parties involved agreed on this already in October in a discussion between the city of Bonn, Tourismus & Congress GmbH (T&C) and the previously involved municipalities between Bonn and Linz.
- Rhine in Flames 2023 – on May 6, 2023 in Bonn
“In 2023 there should be the established country event in the Rheinaue in Bonn and the fireworks synchronized to music. Instead of a convoy of ships between Bonn and Linz, individual ship trips are planned. The banks of the Rhine should only be illuminated in the area of the city of Bonn.
Rhein in Flammen 2023: 100 thousand euros missing for the naval convoy
The decision not to use the ship convoy has financial reasons. There is a funding gap of around €100,000. In the years before the corona pandemic, “Rhein in Flammen” was mainly financed through the sale of ship tickets. According to the current status, far fewer tickets than necessary will be sold for next year.
According to the city and T&C, to run the event as it did in 2019, approximately 12,000 ship tickets would need to be sold and additional sponsorship money would need to flow in. “However, an inquiry with the shipping companies has only resulted in a return of around 4,500 possible seats for sale, which can eventually be expanded to 6,000 seats. According to current planning, this results in the funding gap mentioned,” the city and T&C explain.
Rhine on fire: planning for 2024 will start soon
Furthermore, against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis, hardly any other municipality could promise financial participation in the event. In order for “Rhein in Flammen” to be able to take place at least in an abridged edition in 2023, the city of Bonn is financially supporting the event. The city will provide 40,000 euros for “Rhein in Flammen 2023”. The city council decided on 8 December. “On the one hand, this solution will not harm the ‘Rhein in Flammen’ brand with its high level of national awareness and, on the other hand, will ensure that the event can take place in the next year,” the city of Bonn announced.
Despite the reduction, the organizers managed to prevent the complete cancellation of “Rhein in Flammen”. Things looked different in Cologne recently. The popular ‘Cologne Lights’ fireworks event had to be canceled for 2023.
A decision will be made shortly on how “Rhein in Flammen” can continue in the future. The partners involved want to start “immediate planning talks for ‘Rhein in Flammen’ 2024”. The goal of the talks: to develop a new concept that secures the event economically and further develops it in the long term. Note: This article was last updated on December 9, 2022. Innovation: Bonn city council decides on financial support for “Rhine in flames”. (bs) Correct and independent information about what is happening in NRW – sign up for our free 24RHEIN newsletter here.
