Dear friends of the Wasen,
Let me introduce myself: I’m Wasenhasi, the mascot of the Cannstatter Wasen in Stuttgart. I’ve been living here since 2007 and I can certainly say that life never gets boring around here. Festivals, shows, circuses, concerts, exhibitions – there’s something happening throughout the year.
My world is however the big festivals. For the duration of the Stuttgart Spring Festival and the Cannstatter Volksfest in autumn, the Wasen hosts people from all over the world and I get to meet lots of nice people. What I really like is seeing all those happy faces of the kids, when they see all the funfair rides and stalls. Being a rabbit, I’m obviously not a scaredy cat and I just love riding the big wheel or roller-coaster to give myself a better overview of the festival tents, snack bars and stalls. After all, you have to keep an eye on everything that's going on here. As the symbolic figure of the big festival, I stand for everything that makes it so special, namely a love of life, Swabian tradition and, in particular, for the hospitality towards the visitors from all over the world.
Perhaps you’re asking yourselves how a rabbit of my standing did find his way down to the Wasen. The reason is quite simple as my ancestors all lived on the big festival site on the banks of the River Neckar. The old local Swabian folk song “Auf’m Wasa graset d’Hasa“ – “Rabbits are a grazing on the Wasen” – is all about them and you can still see me and my friends hoppling around the Wasen.
The man behind me is the children’s book author, artist and publisher Gecko Keck, alias Gerhard Wörner. He grew up close to the Wasen and still lives in Bad Cannstatt. As far as Stuttgart is concerned, he, like me, is a clever bunny. He’s even written a book about me. It’s called “Pias Traum oder Wie kam der Hase auf den Wasen?“ (Pia’s dream or how did the rabbit find its way to the Wasen).
In the meantime I’ve found a girlfriend called “Hasi“. And who knows, perhaps she’ll be accompanying me soon for a stroll around the Wasen.
Pop by and pay me a visit the next time you come down to the Wasen. I’m looking forward to see you.
Kindest regards
