the luna superyacht

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This Yacht is not for Charter*

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LUNA yacht NOT for charter*

114.2m  /  374'8 | lloyd werft | 2010 / 2016.

Owner & Guests

• Previous Yacht

Special Features:

• True Go Anywhere Yacht
• Large swimming pool
• Two Helicopter Pads
• Accommodates up to 18 guests
• Ice Class Hull
• Huge 9500 NM Range

The 114.2m/374'8" expedition yacht 'Luna' was built by Lloyd Werft in Germany at their Bremerhaven shipyard. Her interior is styled by design house Donald Starkey and she was delivered to her owner in March 2010. This luxury vessel's exterior design is the work of Newcruise and she was last refitted in 2016.

Guest Accommodation

Luna has been designed to comfortably accommodate up to 18 guests in 9 suites. She is also capable of carrying up to 49 crew onboard to ensure a relaxed luxury yacht experience.

Onboard Comfort & Entertainment

Her features include a dancefloor, movie theatre, beauty salon, satellite communications, underwater lights, beach club, gym, deck jacuzzi, WiFi and air conditioning.

Range & Performance

Luna is built with a steel hull and aluminium superstructure, with teak decks. Luna comfortably cruises at 18 knots, reaches a maximum speed of 22 knots with a range of up to 7,600 nautical miles from her 850,000 litre fuel tanks at 16 knots. Luna features at-anchor stabilizers providing exceptional comfort levels. Her water tanks store around 176,000 Litres of fresh water. She was built to Lloyds Register ✠ 100A1SSC, YACHT, MONO, EP, G6, ICE CLASS 1D. ✠ LMC, UMS, DP(AM), PCAC(1.1), NAV1, IBS, BWTS* classification society rules.

*Charter Luna Motor Yacht

Motor yacht Luna is currently not believed to be available for private Charter. To view similar yachts for charter , or contact your Yacht Charter Broker for information about renting a luxury charter yacht.

Luna Yacht Owner, Captain or marketing company

'Yacht Charter Fleet' is a free information service, if your yacht is available for charter please contact us with details and photos and we will update our records.

Luna Photos

Luna Awards & Nominations

• The ShowBoats Design Awards 2011 Exterior Design & Styling Award: Displacement Motor Yachts 200′+ Finalist
• The World Superyacht Awards 2011 Best Displacement Motor Yacht of 3,000GT and above (approximately 85m+) Finalist

NOTE to U.S. Customs & Border Protection

Specification

M/Y Luna

SIMILAR LUXURY YACHTS FOR CHARTER

Here are a selection of superyachts which are similar to Luna yacht which are believed to be available for charter. To view all similar luxury charter yachts click on the button below.

60m | Brooke Marine

from $314,000 p/week

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69m | Svendborg Skibsvaerft

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62m | J.J. Sietas

POA ♦︎

85m | SilverYachts

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67m | Benetti

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75m | Abeking & Rasmussen

from $814,000 p/week ♦︎

Come Together

60m | Amels

from $450,000 p/week

71m | Richards Shipbuilders

from $315,000 p/week ♦︎

71m | Royal Denship

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67m | Shadow Marine

from $120,000 p/week

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Sanctioned oligarch is begging the EU to return his seized $353 million superyacht Luna. The 378 feet vessel has 81 TV’s, one of the largest swimming pools on a yacht, and even a submarine.

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M/Y Luna: The 115m Superyacht Has Finally Left Dubai

After a gruelling few years of legal battles, the 115m superyacht ‘Luna’ has finally left Dubai. In 2017, the vessel was at the centre of a prolific divorce settlement between Farkhad Akhmedov and his ex-wife Tatiana Akhmedova which would continue over the following years. Luna is now free, and has been heading up the Suez Canal to explore the Mediterranean. SEO

Luna’s Rocky History

Farkhad Akhmedov came into possession of Luna in 2014, after purchasing it from Roman Abramovich for US$360. In 2017, Akhmedov and his wife Tatiana entered into a legal dispute concerning their divorce. At this time, Luna was in Port Rashid, Dubai, for maintenance work. The superyacht was then under court order to remain in its current location whilst resolving the dispute. After many setbacks and obstacles, she is now back where she belongs, on the open water.

Luna’s Design

Luna is an explorer superyacht built by Lloyd Werft at their German shipyard. Her interior features a design by Donald Starkey Designs, whilst Newcruise provided their expertise to create her striking exterior. The vessel has room to accommodate up to 50 guests and 18 crew members over her five decks. Luna’s luxurious facilities include two helipads, an expansive beach club, and a spa with a steam bath, plunge pool and sauna.

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$420 million yacht owned by pro-Kremlin oligarch that comes with its own mini submarine is frozen in German port

• The Luna superyacht was frozen by authorities in a German port, local media reported.
• Its owner, pro-Kremlin oligarch Farkhad Akhmedov, was sanctioned by the EU in April.
• The Luna was formerly at the center of a bitter divorce row, but has remained in Akhmedov's hands.

A luxury superyacht has been frozen in a German port after the police verified that its owner is a sanctioned, pro-Kremlin businessman, the country's media reported.

Germany's federal police established as of this week that the yacht's owner is Farkhad Akhmedov, an Azerbaijani businessman with close ties to the Kremlin, as Süddeutsche Zeitung first reported . 

Akhmedov was on April 8 swept into a round of European Union sanctions in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Luna stayed in the port of Hamburg while German police unpicked the vessel's complex ownership structure, the paper reported. 

Related stories

The Port of Hamburg confirmed the move in a statement to Insider. The German federal police did not immediately repond to Insider's request for comment.

The yacht had been held in a Lichtenstein trust, a mechanism often used to conceal assets, as part of a bitter divorce row between Akhmedov and his ex-wife, MailOnline reported .

The yacht is worth an approximate 400 million euros, or around $420 million, Süddeutsche Zeitung reported.  Reuters put that figure at around $460 million .

It measures 377 feet long and boasts nine decks and even has a mini-submarine, Süddeutsche Zeitung reported. According to The Guardian , it has 10 VIP cabins and a 66-foot-long swimming pool.  

It's the second yacht in the port of Hamburg to be frozen in connection with the Ukraine war. The world's largest yacht, the $735 million Dilbar, was impounded there in mid-April after police found that it was owned by the sister of sanctioned Uzbek-Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, as Insider's Dominick Reuter reported . 

According to Reuters , the Luna was built for the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who sold it to Akhmedov in 2014.

The Luna has a troubled history. In 2019, it was at the center of a deeply rancorous divorce settlement row between Akhmedov, his ex-wife Tatiana Akhmedova, and their son Temur, The Guardian reported . 

During the case Akhmedova claimed Temur helped his father conceal around $530 million in assets, including the yacht, the paper reported. Her settlement did not include the Luna, the paper reported. 

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Motor Yacht

Motor yacht Luna is a 115 metre explorer yacht built by Lloyd Werft and Stahlbau Nord.

Luna was constructed for Roman Abramovich who will add her to his already significant list of large luxury yachts. Luna is also one of the largest explorer yachts in the world.  

• Yacht Builder Lloyd Werft No profile available
• Naval Architect Lloyd Werft No profile available
• Exterior Designer NEWCRUISE™ - Krueger Yacht Projekt GmbH No profile available
• Interior Designer Donald Starkey View profile

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By SuperyachtNews 02 Apr 2019

115m MY 'Luna' released from Dubai

The saga for the akhmedov fortune has taken another turn….

The Luna saga, which saw the 115m Lloyd Werft-built superyacht seized in Dubai last year as a result of an acrimonious divorce battle between Farkhad Akhmedov and his British wife Tatiana Akhmedov, has taken a new turn with an appeals court in Dubai determining that the seizure of the vessel, which had been enforced by a freezing order on the part of the British courts, does not hold sway in the Emirates.

The couple, who married in 1993, have been part of a divorce battle that is considered to have yielded the largest divorce settlement in British history, with the British courts ruling in 2016 that Ms Akhmedov was owed £453 million for her ‘equal contributions to the welfare of the family’.

The judgement further stated that Mr Akhmedov had attempted to ring-fence a number of assets from the UK courts, including the superyacht Luna, thereby restricting his wife’s access to his global assets.

In 2017, Luna was detained by the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts while she was undergoing maintenance in Port Rashid, as a London court sought to enforce the pay-out.

In November 2018, a new development saw judges in Dubai rule that a commercial court in the Emirati state had no requirement to uphold a freezing order enforced by a UK court, as well as claiming that the vessel belonged to Mr Akhmedov by right. Last week, following a battle in the UAE appeals court, it was, once again, determined that the British freezing order need not be upheld by the UAE commercial courts.

Given the nature of the divorce proceedings, which has seen the use of, supposedly, falsified divorce documents on the part of Mr Akhmedov and the employ of Baroness Fiona Shackleton, one of the world’s most acclaimed divorce lawyers, on the part of Mrs Akhmedov, it is more than likely that there is plenty more to come in the fight for Luna and the Akhmedov fortune.

However, in the meantime, Mr Akhmedov has use of the vessel again.

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The Economic Times daily newspaper is available online now.

A $353 mn luxury superyacht, luna, is at the heart of london’s biggest divorce.

The Luna, which - with its 50-member crew - has been languishing at its Dubai berth for more than two years.

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LUNA B Yacht – Captivating $60M Superyacht

The LUNA B yacht is a 66m superyacht built by the Dutch shipyard Oceanc o , an industry pioneer that aims to create and support the most advanced and inspiring motor yachts and sailing yachts in the world.

She offers substance and style on a private yacht charter that her guests won’t be able to find anywhere else.

Her multitude of decks is ideal for relaxation and ensures her guests will live la dolce vita on the open waters.

Formerly known as Natita, Ona, Dilbar I, and Dilbar, she is the 24th-largest yacht built by Oceanco. She was fresh from a full rebuild in 2018/2020  thus her condition is in many ways as good as new

LUNA B Yacht interior

The LUNA B is a stunning yacht that boasts a spacious interior penned by Alberto Pinto, where eclecticism, luxury details, and refinement remain the keywords when it comes to creating entire universes for its prestigious clients worldwide.

She is adorned with luxurious materials such as marble, wood, leather, and fabrics all throughout.

Her interior exudes an elegant yet relaxed vibe and is decorated with high-quality materials, exquisite finishing, and exceptional attention to detail.

Her bold and dynamic interior nicely blends old-fashioned craftsmanship and materials with cutting-edge style.

The main salon has Macassar ebony and ash sycamore paneling with nickel accents. A low table centerpiece and beige, brown, and leather furniture contribute to the atmosphere. 

The yacht’s interior features dramatic darker wood in eye-catching and imaginative ways. Her main deck entertainment area has beige and black jacquard walls, and her grand staircase has ebony, etched glass, and leather-covered stairs. 

LUNA B provides two formal dining choices in addition to the informal deck eating. The main deck salon’s dark wood dining table is suitable for formal evening meals, while the upper deck salon and bar give uninterrupted views.

Last but not least, the top deck salon has natural textiles, coral, and blue hues with a contemporary twist. 

LUNA B Yacht exterior

Her exterior is the work of Oceanco, a shipyard that prides itself in integrating fine old-world dutch craftmanship with sophisticated new-world know-how and tomorrow’s technology.

LUNA B features a rounded transom that evokes the classic yachts of a bygone area but is coupled with contemporary lines.

Outside, her deck areas have been rearranged in order to provide the greatest possible selection of different areas.

All of the decks feature sun beds, seating areas, and areas designated for socializing in addition to the expansive pool area that is surrounded by inviting sun beds. 

LUNA B Yacht accommodation

She has a total of six suites that can accommodate a maximum of twelve guests. In addition to this, she has the capacity to accommodate up to 22 crew members, making her the ideal choice for luxury yacht charters.

Her suites include a master suite, a VIP cabin, two double cabins, and two cabins with twin beds.

The full-beam master stateroom is a standout room on the ship because it has its own separate saloon area, complete with a television screen that can drop down on both sides, and an adjoining private office.

She also has a wide selection of water toys for the guests to enjoy during the cruise.

LUNA B Yacht specifications

LUNA B yacht was constructed with a steel hull and an aluminum superstructure. She has a gross tonnage of 1801.0 GT, a 12.12 m beam, and a draft of 4.05m. 

Thanks to her twin Deutz engines , she can comfortably cruise at 13 knots, a maximum speed of 17 knots, and a range of up to 4,500 nautical miles from her 180,000-liter fuel tanks. 

She is also equipped with at-anchor stabilizers to provide exceptionally high levels of comfort.

LUNA B Yacht price

LUNA B Yacht costs around $60 million and has a yearly operating cost of around $6 million in the United  States.

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Lunasea: On board the 73m Feadship superyacht

After cruising Lunasea continuously since her 2017 launch, the owners of the 73 metre Feadship superyacht finally found a moment to invite Risa Merl on board to take a look around...

  “This yacht was built to be used,” says John Symond, former owner of the 73-metre Feadship Lunasea (previously named Hasna ), designed inside and out by RWD . “We built her to go virtually anywhere in the world, and she stood up to that. In the first two and a half years, we did the equivalent of twice around the globe in distance.

“We [pictured] how we were going to live in each space. We wanted to have everything a family could need, from the big swimming pool to the cinema room to a beautiful spa on the sundeck – and a great galley,” he continues. As soon as Lunasea was launched in 2017, Symond and his wife, Amber, set out on a voyage, travelling through the Mediterranean, South Pacific, Caribbean and up the East Coast of America. 

Lunasea became a home from home, and they found they were on the yacht more than at their houses in Australia and London, spending at least half the year on board, along with Amber’s children. When they weren’t cruising on Lunasea , Symond’s adult children made good use of the boat. Since the owners and their family have been busy enjoying her from day one, it’s no surprise that we haven’t had a chance to look on board, until now.

The Symonds have owned a slew of yachts, working their way up in size to a 37-metre Benetti . They had it for nine years, but as they could only use it for a month each year, the yacht was also chartered. When Symond sold his business, he knew he’d finally have the freedom to do some long-range cruising. He timed Lunasea's launch to coincide with him officially stepping away from his business in 2017. “I wanted to make up for lost time,” he says.

The Symonds had met designer Justin Redman, of UK design firm RWD, several years before Lunasea's inception, when the couple were originally looking to invest in a refit. “We looked at many nice [brokerage] yachts, but every one had serious flaws,” says Symond. “My wife and I are finicky – we believe in quality and good architecture, and if we can’t afford to do it right, we’d rather not do it at all. I convinced myself that I wouldn’t be 100 per cent happy, nor would Amber, unless we built.”

Symond was drawn to Feadship and signed the contract for Lunasea in mid-2014. With hull design by De Voogt Naval Architects , she was built by Royal Van Lent at Feadship’s Kaag Island facility. “We were on the same page when it came to maintaining quality, integrity of the architecture and not cutting corners – we gelled with them,” he says of the Feadship team. “Every time we had a meeting, I felt more and more confident they were serious professionals who take an immense amount of pride in their work.”

Symond briefed RWD to create an exterior that was elegant and timeless with subtle detailing. It should have character without being too shouty. “He had this idea that he wanted to build a Rolls-Royce, not a Mercedes or BMW,” says Charlie Baker, team principal at RWD. Scalloping details on Lunasea's superstructure catch the light and break up the exterior surfaces so they don’t seem fat or bulky. “These surface changes create a highlight – it’s actually quite a sharp line, but when you do it in a subtle way you can’t tell how angular it is,” says Baker. Symond also wanted the mast to be a work of art while hiding all of the technology and ventilation – the wings that hold the domes on the mast were based on the shape of fish tails.

The owner also loves the look of stainless steel, which was employed generously on the sliding aft doors, floating staircases and cap rails, the latter of which are an RWD signature. “The floating cap rail and glass bulwarks on Lunasea are some of the biggest we’ve done and weighed a huge amount,” says Baker. “The use of glass on board in general was a challenge. We didn’t want to break up the glass with any mullions.” Swathes of curved glass are found on the bulwarks, exterior stairways and, of course, the eight-metre-long infinity swimming pool on the main deck. The glass pieces for the pool were made three times to ensure perfect fit and stability.

To say the owners were hands-on in the creation of Lunasea would be an understatement. The Symonds met the RWD design team religiously every six weeks, whether it was at their home in Australia or on board their Benetti in Italy. The owners visited the yard more than a dozen times during the build, often bringing family and friends along to see the progress.

“It was fantastic to have someone who was so engaged. We’ve attracted owners like that in the past, but no one quite like John,” says Baker. “That was the making of the project for us, to have someone who wanted to be part of everything, who was genuinely so interested with what was going to be on his boat.”

As Symond attests, he and Amber were involved in every square inch of the build. “I wouldn’t even buy a chair without me sitting on it first,” he says, noting that he made mistakes in the past by selecting pieces without trying them out and being disappointed after buying them.

Symond credits his ownership experience for forming the basis of what he wanted on his new boat. Must-haves were generous living spaces, high ceilings and wide doorways to give a sense of space. Also on the wish list was an exterior and underwater lighting plan to make Lunasea sparkle at night. For bespoke tenders, Australian company Vikal created an open chase boat and a nine-metre limo tender, which has electrically descending stairs off the bow. “When you pull into the beach at Saint-Tropez, you don’t have to awkwardly climb over the side,” says Symond.

Lunasea's distinctive layout speaks directly to how the Symonds planned to use her. A formal dining room is found upon entering the main deck, followed by a 10-seat cinema and casual day office, while the galley and owner’s suite are forward. “It might be odd for some people to have a cinema on the main deck, but it’s probably John’s most-used space. He’ll go in there to watch the news in the morning or a movie night with the family,” says Baker. “It’s purposefully designed to feel like a different space from the rest of the boat – the walls are blue velvet, the floor a dark blue Tai Ping carpet. It feels like going into a blue cave, a little hideaway.”

By contrast, Lunasea's other interior living spaces are light and airy. The styling is indicative of the owners’ wishes to create an elegant beach house – relaxed and liveable (but not at all rustic); a space where anyone could feel comfortable. “I wanted the yacht to feel like a home that just happened to be on water,” says Amber Symond. “We didn’t want any ‘themeing’. Rather we wanted a tranquil, restrained feel in decoration, letting the emphasis be on the lines of the yacht, pushing the attention back to the natural beauty of the ocean.”

Amber worked with the design team to choose accent details that became staples of the interior. Leather straps appear to be holding up the mirrors on board, a detail that matches the stitched leather found in the cinema. Bronze is a hallmark as well, with a thin bronze trim along the joinery borders and where the mullions touch the top of windows designed to look like a beautifully dovetailed jewellery box. Walnut, eucalyptus and limed oak tie everything together. Stained walnut flooring runs throughout all the communal living areas, starting in the beach club and extending through the corridors and staircases.

A pure white colour scheme sets the owner’s suite apart, with light Loro Piana fabrics on the walls pairing with a silky eucalyptus flooring, chosen as a nod to the owners’ Australian roots. Their suite is filled with interesting materials, such as a wall panel in blue fanned straw marquetry trimmed in bronze that comes into view the moment you step into the cabin. Dyed blue vellum parchment was used in the cabinets opposite the bed and on door fronts. The pure white marble found in the his-and-hers bathrooms comes from two enormous pieces that the designers and the Symonds discovered in Italy.

The walls are limed oak in all four lower deck guest cabins, which are almost identical in styling – including Carrara marble in the bathrooms – except for subtle variations in fabrics. The two VIPs and two convertible twin/doubles have direct access to the stern beach club. There are also two supernumerary rooms for a nanny or teacher, which came in handy when Amber’s children were on the boat for six months. “We were down in Bora Bora, where the kids could do home schooling then get off the boat and swim with sharks and turtles in crystal-clear waters – it was just incredible,” says Symond.

Though the main deck forgoes a saloon, there are still plenty of places for the family to gather on board. The upper saloon serves as the main convivial space with a comfortable, window-filled saloon and large bar to port, all opening up to an al fresco dining area seating up to 16 when the table is extended. It’s also a space that Symond gravitated to, writing emails here rather than in the master suite office below. 

The sundeck presents another unexpected saloon option. The mid-section of the deck is designed as an indoor/outdoor living room – with an enormous bar – that can be closed off entirely. This space is outfitted more like the interior of a beach house rather than an outdoor patio and can be accessed from the interior staircase, so there’s no need to go outside in inclement weather. Aft on the sundeck are loungers with optional shading, and forward is a spa pool, smaller bar and dining sofa.

The Symonds’ intention to spend extended periods on Lunasea influenced how they designed the crew quarters – and crew schedules. The size of the crew cabins was expanded and the styling enhanced. Crew hires were also upped from 20 to 30, so 10 crew could be on rotation. “We’ve had no crew burnout,” says Symond. “I’ve always been a believer that if you take care of your people, they will take care of you.”

Lunasea recently sold, and the Symonds are dreaming of what could come next. Much like its predecessor, a future boat would be based on their real-life needs. Since building Lunasea , Symond has become a grandfather, so his focus is on how to make a yacht even more family friendly, with a playroom and nanny’s cabin adjacent to the kids’ rooms – all of which would be set away from guest cabins to limit disruptions. The Symonds also value privacy, so they would like a dedicated owner’s deck. “The next yacht would probably be at least 10 metres longer, but there are no plans to start building yet,” he says.

Of course, going from 37 to 73 metres was already quite a step up for Symond. “I was fulfilling my dream,” he says. “When we started designing the GA for Lunasea , the boat kept growing. I started at 66 metres, then it went up to 68, then 70, then at 73 I said ‘Stop!’ But everything I wanted, everything I dreamt of, I got.” 

This feature is taken from the November 2020 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.

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Art & Design

World famous artists designed this carnival in 1987. nearly 40 years later, it's back.

Mandalit del Barco

An aerial view of Luna Luna in Moorweide park in Hamburg, Germany in 1987. Sabina Sarnitz/Luna Luna, LLC hide caption

An aerial view of Luna Luna in Moorweide park in Hamburg, Germany in 1987.

If you visited Hamburg, Germany, in the summer of 1987, you might have been one of the lucky 250,000 people to attend Luna Luna. It was a carnival designed by some of the most famous artists of the 20th century.

Visitors got to ride a small Ferris wheel adorned with drawings by Jean-Michel Basquiat. They could waltz inside a cylindrical pavilion created by David Hockney. They could wind through Roy Lichtenstein's pop art glass labyrinth, with music by Philip Glass; Fairgoers could also walk inside a mirrored geodesic dome decorated by surrealist Salvador Dalí, and they could ride a carousel painted with bright graffiti figures spray painted by Keith Haring.

Now, thanks to the rapper Drake, his studios and some investment partners, Luna Luna has been revived in Los Angeles.

Who thought this would work?

"I thought the idea sounded great because it is, in a way, something that has been a fantasy of mine since the first time I went to Disneyland or went to amusement parks in America when I was a kid," the late Keith Haring said in 1987 in a documentary about the park.

Luna Luna was the brainchild of Austrian multimedia artist André Heller — an avant-garde poet, singer and impresario. He was known in Europe for his hot air balloon sculptures, acrobatic circuses and firework spectacles that could be seen over the Berlin Wall.

"Creating an amusement park out of art was an early desire," Heller says in the documentary. "And we had to find the right artists in the right combination."

Kenny Scharf works on his painted swing ride for the original Luna Luna. Sabina Sarnitz/Luna Luna, LLC hide caption

Kenny Scharf works on his painted swing ride for the original Luna Luna.

Heller managed to convince 33 of the world's top contemporary artists to be a part of Luna Luna. Among them, American Kenny Scharf.

"He came just out of the blue and like, it sounded very far-fetched, but I'm like OK, great. And I loved doing it," recalls Scharf. "I really believed it was going to be this giant thing that was going to send me to the moon — you know, the art world moon."

Scharf remembers spending three weeks in a cold warehouse in Vienna customizing sculptures and a giant swing ride with his cartoon figures.

"Of course, I was into it," he says. "It fit perfectly with my philosophy for art then and now, which is art is not only for a wall with a frame in a gallery, a museum or above a couch; Art can be everywhere and should be. And art can be something that you experience and that you actually sit on and you swing around and it's fun."

Visitors ride on Kenny Scharf's painted swing ride in 1987. Sabina Sarnitz/Luna Luna, LLC hide caption

German artist Monika GilSing remembers designing flags for Luna Luna. "It was like a small miracle that an art world was created that people had never seen before, and it was very exciting to see art in this context," she says through an interpreter. "On the other hand, art critics — it seemed like they still needed some time to recognize what was going on, because it was such a new way of presenting art."

Monika GilSing works on Wind Images for Luna Luna in 1987. Sa/Luna Luna, LLC hide caption

The park closes

Luna Luna closed down after just three months, dashing Heller's grand plans to tour the park around the world. "It was an absolute masterpiece," he recalls in the documentary. "I had it in my hands, and I let it slip away."

Details of exactly what happened are as muddy as the fairgrounds had been that rainy German summer.

Michael Goldberg, a creative director in New York, says some fundraising deals fell through, and then Heller went back and forth with an American foundation that wanted to bring Luna Luna to San Diego.

"The foundation basically tried to back out of the deal and it ended up going through litigation in three different courts," he says.

In the end, everything that was in Luna Luna — dismantled rides, artwork and merch — was packed into 44 shipping containers. They languished on a desert ranch in Texas for decades.

For nearly 40 years, the Luna Luna attractions were packed away in shipping containers. Mandalit del Barco/NPR hide caption

Then, in 2020, Goldberg says he learned about the carnival and asked for Heller's blessing to launch Luna Luna 2.0.

With Dream Crew, the entertainment company run by megastar Drake and Live Nation as investors he spent $100 million to acquire the shipping containers sight unseen. Goldberg says it was a big risk.

"I was concerned, did I lead somebody into a deal and they were gonna buy a bunch of dust?" he says.

Goldberg remembers shaking nervously when they opened the first container, packed to the brim with posters and T-shirts from 1987.

"Some sort of critters or rodents had gotten in there and basically ripped the product to shreds," he recalls. "And then other pieces of the apparel are in perfect condition."

He says they were relieved opening the rest of the containers. "One of the first pieces that came out was one of the figures from the Keith Haring carousel. The work looked like it was painted yesterday."

Keith Haring's carousel at Luna Luna in Los Angeles. Jeff McLane/Luna Luna, LLC hide caption

With no instruction manuals, the team spent two years meticulously putting the attractions back together.

The park is reborn

Nearly 40 years after its premiere, Luna Luna has been recreated inside a warehouse in the Boyle Heights neighborhood near downtown Los Angeles.

Jean-Michel Basquiat's Ferris wheel at Luna Luna in Los Angeles. Sinna Nasseri/Luna Luna, LLC hide caption

Jean-Michel Basquiat's Ferris wheel at Luna Luna in Los Angeles.

Some of the original performances play on videos at the new exhibition, including an absurd "fart concert" that has visitors dumbfounded. Real-life stilt walkers and puppeteers from the Bob Baker Marionette Theater roam around the reconstructed, indoor park grounds.

Visitors are not allowed to touch the rides, but just like in 1987, visitors can still take their (unofficial) vows at the wedding chapel Andre Heller created for Luna Luna.

"This was André Heller's idea that you could get married to whomever or whatever you wanted," says curatorial director Lumi Tan. "In 1987, [that] was very radical, in a time when gay marriage wasn't legal."

She says today, like then, gay couples can get pretend-married (and pretend divorced) at Luna Luna. So can large groups of friends. "People were marrying family members and pets and inanimate objects," says Tan. "A photographer married his camera, for example."

Kenny Scharf says Luna Luna was ahead of its time, and when it folded in 1987, André Heller was completely crushed. So was he.

"It wasn't like I forgot about it," Scharf says. "I never forgot about it, in fact, I never stopped talking about it."

Kenny Scharf's painted swings at Luna Luna in Los Angeles. Joshua White/Luna Luna, LLC hide caption

Scharf, who lives in Los Angeles, says he hopes one day visitors will be able to fly around on his swing ride again. And from Hamburg where she still lives, GilSing, says she would love to see her flags flapping in the wind outside again.

The new owners do have plans to take Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy on the road, so you never know. The park's run in Los Angeles will close on May 12.

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