Moritz Behmenburg

Moritz Behmenburg: Three times Mandohill and now Rosenfest

Moritz Behmenburg knows how an event works. He has organized Mandohill three times together with Tobias Behmenburg. A festival that combines dodgeball and music. For three days in 2017, 2018 and 2019, the grounds at the Seppenrad sports field were in a state of emergency. Huge stages were set up, playing fields, an area for campers and much more. "We didn't expect Mandohill to be so well received," says the 30-year-old. "It was just something different." If it had gone ahead, the two students would have had to move the festival to a larger area at some point. Moritz Behmenburg: "We actually wanted to go into the event industry full-time. Mandohill would have been a good start, we had already made a lot of contacts."

Product manager

Today, he is glad that he didn't do it. For the second year in a row, the festival cannot take place due to coronavirus. "I'm glad we hadn't already started planning for this year," says Behmenburg, who has been working as a product manager at a video platform in Münster for six months. He doesn't yet know whether there will be another Mandohill Festival. Organizing such an event takes the whole year. "You have to be there 100 percent for the three weeks surrounding the festival," says Behmenburg. "And all that alongside your main job?"

For now, he is devoting himself to another project. The local association had already asked him before coronavirus whether he would like to help with the modernization of the Rose Festival. Why is he involved now? "Because I'm from Seppenrad," says the 30-year-old. And adds with a smile: "Okay, at the moment I live in Hüwel. But that's Seppenrade." And because he wants to. "Because getting something off the ground in Seppenrade is simply fun, because the whole village helps out. That was the case with Mandohill. And at the Rose Festival anyway, all the clubs are involved."

Together with five Mistreiters (all between their early 20s and mid-30s), Moritz Behmenburg has come up with a new concept. "One that combines old and new." There was to be an opening party in the Rose Garden on the Friday of the Rose Festival. A soapbox race for everyone in the village was planned for Saturday, with bands playing on the church square in the evening and DJs, cocktails and more in the rose garden. "A bit of festival flair," says Behmenburg. On Sunday, the event would start with a morning pint, followed by an official NRW soapbox race for clubs. The race would even have been a qualifier for the German championships.

This is probably not possible with Corona. "At the moment, it's totally difficult to organize an event because it's impossible to assess what's allowed and what's not," said Behmenburg. "We are now planning a slimmed-down version." There will be two days of celebrations in the rose garden, with music and a colorful program, with four time slots (Saturday afternoon and evening, Sunday morning and evening), during which a certain number of visitors are allowed on the grounds. All in accordance with the Corona Protection Ordinance, of course. There will be a big surprise on Saturday afternoon! "We're planning a few activities that have never been seen before in Lüdinghausen and Seppenrade!"Nadine Wenge