Live Review: M’era Luna Festival - Hildesheim 2023

Airfield Drispenstedt, Hildesheim, Germany
11th to 13th August 2023
M’era Luna Festival - Impressions, Readings, Crypt Talk, Fashion Show and more…

The second weekend in August is reserved für M’era Luna Festival. If you think that it’s only about music, then you’re mistaken.

Friday started with the camping areas rapidly filling up with people… after exchanging their tickets for wristbands people headed for the bars and the market square where the opening dance started at 17:30. Some left early to secure a seat in the hangar, where Stephan Thanscheidt invited Chris Harms (LORD OF THE LOST) to a “Crypt Talk”. The readings by Markus Heitz, Liza Grimm and Christian von Aster took place soon after. Around 21:45 the hangar was cleared and while crew built up everything you needed for a disco, the festival crowd took a break and used the chance to grab their dinner or a drink.



Saturday started with the second dance workshop on the market square and it was pretty crowded for an early Saturday morning. In the afternoon, the well-established fashion shows took place twice. The organizers had invited some well-known designers and some newcomers this year. This year, the Gothic Fashion Town was back and located close to the infield, so some of the designers took the chance to invite the audience to order or buy at their booth in the fashion tent. Although the weather on Saturday was quite moody, many people took the chance to shop outfits, accessories or gift in the two market squares. There were furs, drinking-horns and other medieval themed items for those who prefer the medieval style and bat themed items, leather goods, band shirts, jewellery and many more in the big market square close to the club stage.



Mike Rademacher’s sculptures, a devil made from iron as well as an “Alien” from the movie series an many more that were not only impressive in daylight but also beautifully illuminated at night, definitely one of the most beautiful forms of upcycling. Between the main entrance and the campgrounds further shopping and eating options were available, some retailers had different spots than the previous year, so you had to roam the M'era Luna festival grounds to find them. And for those who still had enough power after a full festival day, there was another disco night at the hangar to dance through the night.



A lecture by Lydia Benecke had been announced for Sunday morning and many had crept out of their tents quite early for festival standards to secure a seat in the hangar. Unfortunately, there were not enough seats, so some sat on the ground or stood close to the wall. As soon, as the lecture finished, many people lined up, to get their books signed by Lydia, while others headed for the coffee stalls, to grab another dose of caffeine. For those who were not only interested in stars on stage or at the signing sessions at SONIC SEDUCERS tent, there was a lecture about Astro Photography twice and the new program obviously suited the festivals crowds taste.



In the market square fire artist presented their skills during the day and in the night. Unfortunately, their performances had not been announced with a timetable in the regular program, so you had to be lucky to catch one of their dedicated shows. Let’s hope that “Fridolin the Little Fire Dragon” will be back to fire up the artists torches next year. The layout of the festival area had been changed a bit in 2023. It seemed that the organizers read the visitors comments on social media and organized more seating options, that were really welcomed by the audience. Especially on Sunday, when the sun had decided to show up in Hildesheim, people sat down with their drinks between the shows.



The makeup workshops in the styling tent are always a must, for those who want to learn new or different makeup skills and the results were really wonderful to look at. The fact, that the hangar was crowded, whenever something took place, indicates that the festivals organizers had done everything right, so stay tuned for next year’s program.

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All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com / http://www.facebook.com/blackcatnet) and Munich Vampire