Yee-Hah! Berlin Country Music Messe next weekend!

I photograph the stands, at the 2010 messe. Photo © Ruth Ellen Gruber

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

The annual Country Music Messe (fan/trade fair) in Berlin takes place Feb. 1-3 -- and once again it will bring together scores of mainly European country music acts and thousands of fans, along with dozens of vendors of Wild West hats, duds, boots, gadgets, gee-gaws, housewares, decorative items, and more....in a raucous, real imaginary world that spans the borders between fandom and fantasy, dream and desire.

See the full program HERE.

As every year, there are four separate stages where acts seeking bookings and promo play simultaneously, while fans, festival organizers and booking agents traipse around the huge halls.

I haven't been able to get to the Messe for the past couple of years, alas, but I always find it great fun.

Here are some earlier posts from the blog where I talk about it.

And again, the iconic Don Jensen, performing his iconic song, Sauerkraut Cowboy, at the 2008 Messe:

Sauerkraut Cowboys -- My Public Lecture in LA

 Karl May Festival, Radebeul Germany, 2008. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

Heads up to any readers in Los Angeles --  I'm giving a public lecture at UCLA on Sauerkraut cowboys at UCLA on Sept. 30

Sauerkraut Cowboys: Sturm, Twang, and the Imaginary Wild West in Europe

A public lecture by Ruth Ellen Gruber, award-winning writer, photographer, editor and independent scholar

Thursday, September 30, 2010
12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
10383 Bunche Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90095

Berlin -- it's Country Music Messe Time

I'm in Berlin for the annual Country Music Messe (Fair) -- 10,000 or more sauerkraut cowboys, and maybe 100 or more bands, most of them from Europe. I think my first post on this blog was a little snippet from the last time I attended, two years ago:

Feb. 8-10 (2008) saw me in Berlin for the annual Country Music Messe, which this time was held in a new venue -- the "Postbahnhof" right next to Ostbahnhof. Til now, the fair had been held in the so-called Fontana Haus, a sort of community center in a concrete development way up on the northern edge of Berlin. Apparently, the Fair was moved out of there because of safety and security concerns. The new venue is much easier to get to, and this was reflected in the huge numbers of people who crammed the space on Saturday. Most appeared to be from surrounding areas of (former) East Germany; it was easy to come into town, arrive at Ostbahnhof and then just stroll across the street to the Fair -- rather then ride the Metro and bus for nearly an hour to get to the former venue. It led to the amusing scene of cowboy figures hanging out in the train station or jamming the fast food joints at the food court there -- the catering opportunities at the Fair left a lot to be desired. I waited for 20 minutes in line to get a Bratwurst and then decided to walk the 3 minutes to Ostbahnhof, where I had my choice of the finest in fast food offerings....I settled on actually quite good, freshly made Pad Thai at an Asian noodle joint.

Will try to give at least brief reports on a daily basis.

Meanwhile here again is a classic scene: Don Jensen singing his song Sauerkraut Cowboys from one of the Messe stages -- it still is my favorite evocation of the scene. Tom! Dagmar! Truckstop!

Sauerkraut Cowboy -- Don Jensen Sings the Song

I posted this more than a year ago on my youtube channel -- but I've finally got to post it on this blog.

Don Jensen, the American-German country singer, performs his iconic song "Sauerkraut Cowboy" live at the Country Music Messe in Berlin.

Just to get started....

           
This month I've dipped in and out... hope to post more details later, but I just want to put something up in order to test out the blog. 

Feb. 8-10 saw me in Berlin for the annual Country Music Messe, which this time was held in a new venue -- the "Postbahnhof" right next to Ostbahnhof. Til now, the fair had been held in the so-called Fontana Haus, a sort of community center in a concrete development way up on the northern edge of Berlin. Apparently, the Fair was moved out of there because of safety and security concerns. The new venue is much easier to get to, and this was reflected in the huge numbers of people who crammed the space on Saturday. Most appeared to be from surrounding areas of (former) East Germany; it was easy to come into town, arrive at Ostbahnhof and then just stroll across the street to the Fair -- rather then ride the Metro and bus for nearly an hour to get to the former venue. It led to the amusing scene of cowboy figures hanging out in the train station or jamming the fast food joints at the food court there -- the catering opportunities at the Fair left a lot to be desired. I waited for 20 minutes in line to get a Bratwurst and then decided to walk the 3 minutes to Ostbahnhof, where I had my choice of the finest in fast food offerings....I settled on actually quite good, freshly made Pad Thai at an Asian noodle joint.