Weimar (dpa/th) – The 369th Weimar Onion Market will be opened on Friday (12.00) with the cutting of an onion cake by Lord Mayor Peter Kleine (independent). For three days, around 400 stalls, several stages and street artists take over the city centre. The core of Thuringia’s nationally most famous folk festival is traditionally formed by the stands of the onion farmers from Helderungen (Kyffhäuserkreis), who sell the artfully braided red and white onion braids that are typical of the market. 40 providers from Helderungen are there. Their number has fallen as a result of a lack of offspring and a rather poor harvest this year. Around 150,000 people visited the onion market last year.