Photo: Julien Becker
Etat de service
La SchueberFouer. The SchueberFouer
Marc Weydert dans son terrain de jeux. Marc Weydert in his playground.
The Workshop of Happiness W
ho could be better to appear in the new section that will guide you through the various departments of the City’s administration than Marc Weydert? A character of legendary eloquence, he is the true patriarch who oversees the popular events that take place in the capital. Discover the Office of festivals, fairs and markets. ‘I have been part of the City’s administration for almost thirty years’, Marc Weydert informs us first of all. ‘I started in 1979, in the topography and building department. For 10 years, I have been in charge of renting nonbuilt land. The organisation of the Schueberfouer was at the time still under the responsibility of the head of the festival commission’. In 1990, after the departure of the head of the commission, Pierre Capesius, a major reorgani sation took place, the festival commission merged with the market security to become the Office of Festivals, fairs and markets. Marc Weydert: ‘I found I was alone to organise all the events taking place in Luxembourg. Among them the Octave-Mäertchen, the Emaischen, the fairs organised by the different neighbourhoods, the Fête Nationale, the weekly markets, antique markets… and of course the Schueberfouer’. The preparations in 1995, while Luxembourg was, for the first time, European
Capital of Culture, naturally lead the City of Luxembourg to give the department a ‘shot in the arm’. Marc Weydert: ‘It was already a very busy calendar, a whole series of events needed to be organised. Coordinating these festivities, overseeing the technical management… I couldn’t do it on my own, it is then we started to take on more staff. I must take this opportunity to highlight that, whatever political party was in power, the Office of festivals, fairs and markets has always received very strong support. This is necessary if we want to maintain the level of service offered in Luxembourg’. Today, there are no less than six people working in the office, Marc Weydert is pleading for a seventh: ‘We are very far from the clichés that surround civil servants. We are present at all the events, whether they are on weekends, bank holiday or at night… And this only to follow up events that we organise. One must keep in mind that the Fête Nationale alone takes at least three to six months to organise...’ The organi sation of the Schueberfouer requires rather unusual experience, to say the least. Marc Weydert: ‘Placing participants is a job in itself. The fact that we have new attractions each year is thanks to all the behind the scene’s work undertaken throughout the year’.
Marc Weydert knows the job of placement like the back of his hand. As he was the Gen eral Secretary of the European Union of Fairground workers, he is known by everyone in this small world: ‘There are still some clichés regarding this community. They are in fact for the most part, hard workers. But it’s true that they have their own codes, their way of doing things… We must learn to work with them, get to know the major families, even the manufacturers... while sticking to our principles and respecting the rules’. Faced with the multiplication of regulations, Marc Weydert also had to learn how to negotiate with admin istration. He is pleased with the close collabo ration between the different City departments: ‘Nothing would be possible without this. The Schueberfouer itself is attended by some two million visitors. We cannot make any mistake. Despite the fact that we have a certain amount of experience, I do not sleep properly until the event is over. The pressure is always there. But when you have the chance to participate in events as beautiful as the Millennium celebrations, the accession to the throne of Grand-Duke Henri or the Start of the Tour de France… you cannot help but feel privileged, happy and proud each working day’. 133
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