Two million people are expected to visit the 685th edition of the Schueberfouer, all with a hunger to satiate, a thirst to quench, or a thrill to seek. But with the annual fair also comes a mountain of waste and electricity usage. So how well does the Schueberfouer do in terms of sustainability?
With the traditional ‘Hämmelsmarsch’ (mouton march) on Friday at 5pm, the 2025 fair season was officially opened. As is typical for Luxembourg’s fairs, food and drink are in abundant supply on the Glacis – but how is sustainability being taken into account? Maurice Bauer, first alderman of the City of Luxembourg, explained that significant efforts are being made in this direction.
“We are working on it, which of course is very difficult for an event of this scale. But we have set a clear rule: vendors may only serve drinks in glass or in cups that can be returned with a deposit. This avoids a lot of plastic, because we don’t want any more single-use plastic.”
The city wants to work together with fairground operators to create a more sustainable fair. For this reason, Luxembourg City’s environmental department has also developed guidelines to better support sustainability efforts.
Even though the will and support for more sustainability are there, it remains challenging to implement environmental measures in a temporary setting like the Schueberfouer. This was explained by Gordon Braun, manager of the “Stall”:
“We are only here for 20 days, so it is indeed difficult, but we are doing our best. This ranges from recycled napkins to reusable sets. Food waste is sorted, plastic is sorted, and every vendor is willing to contribute – but in practice, at the fair, it’s not easy.”
The Glacis was already bustling at the opening. Visitors speaking to RTL agreed that a more sustainable fair is important in today’s day and age. Some even said they were prepared to dig deeper into their wallets for sustainable and local products.
Bauer also took the opportunity to call on visitors to use public transport when coming to the fair – which, of course, is also part of sustainability.
