The Dukes Of Downtown, born in 2009 from a coffee whim of Zweibar restaurateur Phil Hinze and designer/illustrator Helge Jepsen, developed over the years from a small but fine car event to a major event, which only became a small festival again due to Corona.
The Dukes are not just a classic car rally: anyone who drives a cool car is allowed to take part – and cool is whatever the two Oberdukes think is cool. However, 90 per cent of the participants have an H licence plate.
Between 2009 and 2019, the Rü in Essen /Germany was closed until dawn for exactly 111 cars, bouncy castles, barbecue stands, beer vans and a stage for hard guitar music and bad male choirs. During and after Corona, the Dukes developed into an annual family festival with an excursion into the countryside and a party with a DJ in the Zweibar in the evening.
The tasks have always been strictly separated: everything before 3 p.m. (the original arrival of the vehicles on the Rü until 2019) is Jepsen’s job: accepting and processing registrations, planning the route and destination, filling the driver goodie bag, everything after that (until 2019 closure and a big party on the Rü, from 2020 delicious food and popping corks in the Zweibar) is organised by Hinze.
If Jepsen were honest, he would admit that he only goes to all this trouble to fulfil his passion – drawing beautiful metal and designing T-shirts, calendars, mugs and the respective posters…
Here you can see more of Helges artwork: Homepage & Instagram
