Building the Fouer in a Heatwave

Glacis square is a construction site this week. Rollercoasters are running empty test cars. Workers are bolting stalls together in 37°C heat, chugging water, chasing shade, and starting shifts at dawn to dodge the worst of it.

The Schueberfouer, Luxembourg's biggest funfair, opens its 686th edition on August 21. Organiser Laurent Schwaller put it plainly: you cannot work from home when you're building a fairground. You cannot retreat to an air-conditioned office. The deadline is the deadline, heatwave or not.[1]

This year's setup has been shaped by two forces pushing against each other: extreme heat and tighter regulations.

The heat

Meteolux has the south under an orange alert, the north under yellow. Temperatures are forecast to hit 37°C on August 15 before dropping below 30°C on Sunday. The country's Water Management Authority has kept its "vigilance phase" for drinking water in place since July 10, asking residents and businesses to cut non-essential use.[2]

For the people assembling rides and stalls at Glacis, that means adapting. Some businesses have shifted their working hours to early morning, when the air is still relatively cool. Schwaller says staff are drinking plenty of water, taking breaks, and seeking shade whenever possible. But the fair has a hard opening date, and nobody is pretending the heat makes that easy.

The rules

Safety and labour standards at the Schueberfouer have gotten significantly stricter in recent years. Charel Hary, spokesperson for the fairground operators, recalls a time when you could show up, set up your stand, and bring on whoever offered to help. That world is gone.

Today, everything has to be above board. This year, access to the site during setup and dismantling is more tightly regulated than ever. You can no longer cross the construction area freely, a measure most people see as sensible. Hary welcomes it. "If something were to happen, it would be chaos," he said.

He does see room for improvement. Staff currently need a permit every day just to enter the site, which adds friction. But in general, the measures fulfil their purpose.

What's coming

From August 21 to September 9, organisers expect between 1.5 and 2 million visitors. The Schueberfouer has been running since 1340, which means it has survived plagues, wars, occupations, and countless heatwaves before this one. It will almost certainly survive this one too.

But the people building it are doing so under conditions that would send most office workers home for the day. That's worth remembering when the rides start spinning next weekend.