Daily Prompt: Can’t Drive 55

Today’s assignment for photographers at The Daily Post is speed.

Here, where I live, the annual fun fair starts tomorrow. So, I guess, it’s more than suitable to pick a photo taken at the fun fair back in 2009. I hope, you can stand the speed and enjoy the photo.

The colorful lines in the foreground are a result of a fast-moving carousel. It’s like an octopus. Several arms are moving up and down while they are spinning around a center. Each arm ends in a few cabins, each for 2 people. These cabins are also spinning around, but they are spinning around their base at the end of their arm.

More on this year’s fun fair in a later post.

Take care!

At night at Crange fun fair

Here is the continuation of my last Tuesdays post on my visit at the fun fair in Herne-Crange.

Today I don’t have to tell so much, because I explained most of the cultural notes last week.

For a  fun fair there is no entrance fee in opposite to the theme parks that don’t move. You have to pay for each ride by buying chips at cash desk and hand it over to the conductor right before you’re taking the ride or when entering the carousel. You can i.e. buy 10 chips and use them on any of the days the carousel is in town. In case, you know the next town, you can even use them there. But, they are only valid at the carousel where you have bought them.

At night all the booths and carousels are illuminated by hundreds of thousands of colored light bulbs. That creates a wonderful ambience.

In case, you’ve the opportunity to visit a fun fair, I’d recommend to go. If it is you first time, try to avoid a Friday or a Saturday night. These are usually the nights with the most visitors and it could be hard to enjoy the special mood in such a crowd.

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A day at the fun fair

As I wrote in my post on Sunday, I was at the fun fair in Herne-Crange last Saturday for taking photos. I love the sound and the certain smell of a fun fair. A German fun fair is usually for a few days in a city. In most cities the fun fair lasts from Thursday (or Friday) until Tuesday. In my region (Westphalia) there is usually a fireworks display organized and paid by the owners of the attractions at the last night.

You can find booths selling sweets like roasted almonds, roasted nuts, lebkuchen (gingerbread), candyfloss, fruits covered by chocolate or a special colored sugar, french crepes, fried mushrooms, ice cream, fish rolls, french fries and of course stands selling beer or bratwurst (fried sausage). At other booths you can buy gems, shoes, flowers, baseball caps, sunglasses. But there are also booths selling fortunes, angling ducks (with winning numbers printed under them) or angling prices by pulling bands. And of course lots of carousels, rollercoster, bumper cars and usually a ferris wheel

A fun fair is usually a big event, when it comes in a town. Parts of the town will be closed for the traffic to give room for the people to come and enjoy. The booths are set up in the streets or on places and even the big carousels are set up during a few hours. When the fun fair closes at i.e. 1 a.m. at the last night, they start dismounting at once. And most of the carousels are already gone at the next morning, about 6 or 7 hours after closing. Amazing!

In 4 weeks there is a fun fair here, where I live and I guess, I’ll be able to show some further photos and tell a little bit more. In case, you have a question, don’t hesitate to use the comment section below to send them in. I’ll try to answer it.

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People@Crange fun fair

Today’s post is a little bit out of me regular schedule. That’s because I proposed the two ladies to put that photo online today. So, here it is 🙂

Yesterday I was at a fun fair in Crange. Crange is part of the city Herne in the northern Ruhr area. The fun fair lasts nearly 2 weeks and is the biggest here in the region (although Duesseldorf, our state capitol, reclaims their 2 weeks lasting Rhine fun fair as the biggest in our state).

Nevertheless, I was there with some friends for taking photos and you will see them on the next two Tuesdays. First I’ll show some impressions of a German fun fair and next week I’ll complete it with some night shots.