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Popraci Neukolln 2017: When we pushed rolls of Hay around Neukölln dressed with Black Metal war paint

Neukölln is a weird place in Berlin. At first glance, the neighborhood looks like a clash of cultures or, maybe, the future of Germany. But, in the back streets, you can find a glimpse of the past, and this is called Popraci, a hay roll race that has been happening for ten years yet most people don’t even know it exists. Fotostrasse got together with a few friends and put a team to race in this year Popraci Neukolln 2017, and here you can read everything about it.

We have been following Popraci in Neukölln for a couple of years now, and we even wrote something about it. After watching it happening in front of us, we decided to take part in it. Hay roll racing is something that we don’t have in Brazil so it could be an unusual experience for us. Something unique for a Saturday afternoon with friends and some beers. Why not?




When you read the rules of Popraci Neukolln 2017, for you to win, there are points spread around categories. You have to race fast, you have to know the history of the Rixdorf area of Neukölln, and you have to have an awesome costume. We knew that we could win when it comes to the history of the area, but we knew that winning the race would be close to impossible. So, how could we improve our points? Let’s try something with our costumes.

After some lame ideas, Marcela came up with the True Norwegian Black Metal visual, and we all got together the morning before the race and started with the makeup. Each one of us chooses between some “examples” of corpse paint and we were set to go. On our walk from Rathaus Neukölln to Rixdorf, we knew that our costume was great since so many people were just stunned to see the six of us walking like that.

Popraci Neukolln 2017: When we pushed rolls of Hay around Neukölln dressed with black metal war paint - Neukölln is a weird place in Berlin. At first glance, the neighborhood looks like a clash of cultures or, maybe, the future of Germany. But, in the back streets, you can find a glimpse of the past, and this is called Popraci, a hay roll race that has been happening for ten years yet most people don’t even know it exists. Fotostrasse got together with a few friends and put a team to race in this year Popraci Neukölln 2017, and here you can read everything about it.

Our costumes were so great that, once we reached the area designated for the hay roll race, one of the people taking care of the competition screamed to us saying we were his favorites already. Yeah, black metal can make this to people.

In the end, we did the hay roll race. It was way harder than we thought but we had to celebrate it either way. We raced, and it was fantastic, and we will have this experience with us for a long time. Too bad we didn’t win, but next year we will be there again to try something else.

After the race, we had some beers while we waited for the other races to be over and, when we were about to go away, we hear our team name onstage. We were about to leave when we won the award for Best Costume at Popraci Neukolln 2017! We went onstage, celebrated like crazy, and you can see all of this in the video above.

Popraci Neukolln 2017: When we pushed rolls of Hay around Neukölln dressed with black metal war paint - After the race, we had some beers while we waited for the other races to be over and, when we were about to go away, we hear our team name onstage. We were about to leave when we won the award for Best Costume at Popraci Neukölln 2017! We went onstage, celebrated like crazy, and you can see all of this in the video above.

Popraci Neukölln 2017 was fantastic. The race was crazy fun, the costumes were great, and our team didn’t win the race, but we showed the world that black metal is the law.

Thanks to Canal Alemanizando for being a part of our black metal team and for some of the pictures here. Thanks to Marian and Mike for the help with the footage. Thanks to Tatu, Ian and Naná Herman for being a part of our team. And thank you Popraci Neukolln 2017 for existing! This race was beyond fun and we will be there next year.


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Felipe Tofani

Felipe Tofani

Felipe Tofani is a passionate designer with a penchant for crafting unique experiences and a mixed taste in music. As the curator behind this blog's explorations, he takes pride in discovering fascinating destinations. Whether unearthing hidden gems or sharing captivating historical narratives, Felipe is the creative force driving the stories you find here. Join him on a journey of design, discovery, and the delightful rhythm of unconventional tunes.View Author posts