Charcoal burner festival

by Petra Lessoing
86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs


The community of Fischbach will hold its 29th annual charcoal burner festival today to Sunday, and Wednesday to July 28. The event will take place at a clearing in the woods, called the “Schinnertal.” Visitors can experience the traditional burning of charcoal, listen to live music, eat grilled specialties and buy charcoal.

Charcoal burners will pile up a charcoal kiln with 30 to 35 meters of charcoal and light it with the embers from a campfire.

The kiln will start glowing from the inside out. The charcoal burners
will supervise the burn for six to 10 days.

Afterward, the pile collapses and the larger charcoal pieces are raked and chopped up, and everything is collected and packaged. One pile may turn into about 80 to 100 bags of charcoal, which visitors can buy.

The fest will begin at 7 p.m. today with the christening of the kiln by this year’s godfather. The food specialty this year will be “wurstsalat” (sausage salad) and fried potatoes.

At 7 p.m. Saturday, the musical program will begin with Wolfgang & Horst, and a meal of ham and potato salad will be offered.

On Sunday, activities will begin with an ecumenical worship service at 11 a.m. The daily dish will be an ox on the spit.

Monday and Tuesday will not feature any festivities, but the beverage stand will be open to visitors who wish to view the burning charcoal on the kiln.

At 4 p.m. Wednesday, the children’s vacation program with games will start. Registration will be held at 3:45 p.m. at the fest location. At 7 p.m., the first keg of beer will be tapped, a roast will be served and the band Mabees will play.
On Thursday, the U.S. Air Forces in Europe Band Wings of Dixie will start performing at 7 p.m.

Musical entertainment will continue at 7 p.m. July 27 with Wolfgang & Horst, and a night walk will take place for children at 8 p.m.

On July 28, the charcoal burner schnaps hidden underneath the kiln will be dug out, starting at 6 p.m. During this time, the Happy Dance Duo will entertain the crowd and chicken and other grilled specialties will be served.

For more information and directions, visit www.koehlerfest.de.