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Banners, sofas and megaphones: in Pratteln, those responsible for the federal wrestling festival are selling the last remnants of the mega event.
Fixed bench sets, tables, cable reels and royal blue garbage cans are piled up in a large industrial hall in Pratteln. All objects that were used during the Federal Wrestling and Alpine Festival (ESAF) in the Basel area municipality of Pratteln at the end of August.
I want to keep the Federal Wrestling Festival in good memory.
Curious people stroll through the large hall in search of memorabilia. A man holds a tin cookie jar in his hand. “ESAF” is written on it in large letters. The man smiles contentedly: «I was looking for these tin cans in particular. My daughter collects them.”
Legend:
The approximately 1,100 blue garbage cans were sold like fresh rolls.
SRF / Philipp Schrämmli
A few steps further, a woman examines a tarpaulin that is lying unrolled on the ground. It was used on the ESAF site to show visitors the way: “I want to keep the ESAF in good memory,” says the woman, “I want to sew a bag out of the tarpaulin”.
Toilet brushes and garbage cans as bestsellers
At the beginning of the week, those responsible for ESAF offered around 1,100 blue garbage cans for sale. Only a few are left now. “The blue garbage cans were really a hit at the box office and the cable reels were gone in no time,” says ESAF Managing Director Matthias Hubeli. It’s nice that so many people are making a souvenir of the Swiss Confederation.
The toilet brushes (unused, by the way) didn’t have to wait long for new owners either. “We have a clubhouse in Basel and thought it would be fun to equip our toilets with ESAF toilet brushes,” says a young man who is a member of a student fraternity. “It’s a story that’s easy to tell.”
I secured a few souvenirs for myself – a pocket knife, for example.
At the beginning of the week, when ramp sales started in Pratteln, the hall was almost overrun, says ESAF Managing Director Matthias Hubeli. A fact that pleases him: “Our primary goal was not to have to throw anything away.” Nevertheless, Hubeli is also sentimental about this ramp sale: “It is a final farewell to the ESAF in Pratteln.” Hubeli worked for the Schwingfest for more than three years and was involved in all the planning. “So of course I also secured one or the other souvenir – a pocket knife, for example.”
Legend:
400,000 visitors flocked to the Federal Office in Pratteln at the end of August.
Keystone / URS FLUEELER
Hubeli is very pleased that many ESAF items are now being given a second life in private households. However, it is quite possible that some of them will soon be seen in public again: the Basel carnival people are said to have hit the ramp sale in Pratteln properly.