Before the start of the Dippemess 2024 in Frankfurt

The 2024 Autumn Dippemesse in Frankfurt is just around the corner. The showmen have been under a lot of stress for a long time. There is big news.

Frankfurt – The brake lights of the huge semi-trailers still shine brighter than those of the rides. There is still no smell of roasted almonds, potato pancakes and bratwurst. And there are no cuddly toys sitting at the lottery and throwing booths.

Nevertheless, it is already bustling on the Frankfurt fairground on Ratsweg, even if it is hard to imagine that the countless individual parts, decorations, grids, panels, tracks and gondolas will have been transformed into the Autumn Dippemess 2024 by tomorrow, Friday (September 6).

Dippemess in the autumn edition 2024 is just around the corner in Frankfurt: “It will be wonderful”

“We have just been dismantling in Bad Homburg. This afternoon we will come to the fairground with the wave carousel and set it up,” said Thomas Roie, chairman of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main showmen’s association, yesterday (4 September) and was already looking forward to it: “It will be wonderful.”

The Ferris wheel was not yet visible. It is still on semi-trailers. The roller coaster “Time Machine” by Buwalda and Chiel de Winter could be recognized by the massive gondolas on a trailer waiting to invite young and old passengers on a “ride like the wild mouse, only with rotating gondolas,” said de Winter. The showmen are taking part in the Dippemess for the second time. “The Dippemess was really good fun. It’s cozy here. “The place is great and the colleagues are just great,” enthused the Dutchman and fifth-generation showman.

At Dippemess 2024 in Frankfurt: Germany’s second largest “Fun House” as an attraction

“Mike’s Pit Stop” was quickly built and towered 18 meters high. It was a fun house with several floors, where the path led over and through everything that wobbles, flashes, shakes, whizzes, amazes and is fun. With two terraces, treadmills, turntables, a rolling barrel, a car wash and two curly slides.

His “Fun House” is the second largest in Germany, said Mike Cornelius (45) from Osnabrück proudly. Since last Saturday (August 31), he and four other men have been working on the festival grounds. In tow are six vans “and our caravans,” said Cornelius, who wears a control device around his neck with which he controls a crane with two metal staircases. “That will be the emergency exit,” he revealed, also revealing that this year they have “built the huge building about a dozen times.”

He and his cousin Michael (24) have already met some colleagues. “It’s nice here. A good atmosphere, a perfect place and helpful other showmen. “It’s definitely going to be two great weeks,” says the sixth generation showman.

Over a hundred stalls, carousels and stands: This is what the Frankfurt Dippemess will offer in autumn 2024

When Alexander Schramm arrives with his breakdancer, who is still in Bad Homburg that same morning. “There are five of us. We’ll set up tomorrow,” he said, while he directed a semi-trailer a little further back. What looks like a jumble is actually meticulously planned. Around 115 booths, carousels, stands and rides will be waiting for visitors at the opening, sparkling clean, flashing and as if they had just been freshly peeled off.

With him stands the Frankfurt Dippemess 2024: A very special Platzmeister

One of the people responsible for this is site manager Tally Gardner from Tourismus und Congress GmbH (TCF). Wearing an orange vest with the word “organizer” written on it, he feels like he’s everywhere at once. “I plug holes, have things towed, provide infrastructure such as electricity and water, and mark out the stands,” he says, while his phone rings nonstop, he is greeted with handshakes by showmen and he answers endless questions.

Gardner knows every name, every ride. He has been with the TCF since 2022 and loves the work. “In the thick of things instead of just being there,” he says with a laugh, while next door a crane places a mini Eiffel Tower with millimeter precision for a crepe stand.

Jürgen Feuerstein, who is coming with three children’s rides, complains. There are tons of burrs hanging from his socks. “They could have mown the lawn a few days earlier,” he says, shrugging his shoulders and picking the burrs off. But it’s no big deal, “the main thing is that everything is in tip-top shape on Friday.”

Will the Dippemess 2024 be the last one at the fairground next to the ice rink? Showmen are opposing the city of Frankfurt’s relocation plans. (by Sabine Schramek)