“Of course, everyone will now jump to the conclusion, the fatso is only thinking about food again,” says Reiner Calmund with a grin. Together with Michael Mronz, General Manager of Aachener Reitturnier GmbH, Calmund introduced “Aachen Gourmet“: Top chefs at the World Equestrian Festival from May 29^th-31^st.

The top riders in the world will be competing in Aachen and this year they will be meeting up with some of the best chefs in the world. Johann Lafer will be cooking in Aachen, Christof Lang (runs “La Bécasse“ in Aachen), the top chef in the furthest West part of Germany, Rainer Hensen is also on board together with the chefs from “Otto Gourmet” and on the final Sunday, Luxemburg’s world champion chef Léa Linster. These star chefs will prepare sample sizes of different dishes live in the tent city – in front of the crowds at affordable prices.

Michael Mronz, who developed the concept together with Reiner Calmund, explained, “that the idea is top chefs meet top sport.” In 2015, in addition to the World Equestrian Festival in the last weekend of May, the FEI European Championships will also be staged in Aachen from August 11^th-23^rd. “In this special year, we also wanted to come up with something very special for the May event,“ explained Mronz during a press conference held at the Chocolate Museum in Cologne.

Calmund has been a guest at the CHIO Aachen for many years and he immediately dismissed the assumption that he only thinks about the food: “I have very close ties to the equestrian sport, not only through the show in Aachen. As young boys, we not only played football in the 1950s and 60s, but also re-enacted the big equestrian shows. No joking: I was always Hans Günter Winkler with Halla. We used to lay out an old mattress as an obstacle, decorate it with a few plants and off we set!“ His adopted daughter also rides, “I always march alongside her – at a safe distance,” reported Calmund.

The “Aachen Gourmet“ already kicks off at 5 p.m. on Thursday evening, May 28^th, 2015. On that day and on the following Friday entrance to the showgrounds is free of charge, on Friday the top riders will also already be in action live in the jumping ring. Entrance tickets for the World Equestrian Festival have to be purchased for Saturday and Sunday. After the sports programme has finished on Saturday evening, entrance to the “Aachen Gourmet“ is once again free of charge. In this way, the expected 100,000 visitors will not only experience top sport, but also gourmet cuisine. But one thing definitely won’t be on the agenda: “Don’t worry, I certainly won’t be getting on a horse,” assured Calmund.