Festooner and method for buffering a strip

A festooner for buffering a strip, wherein the festooner comprises a first holder and a second holder which are oppositely movable towards and away from each other in a buffer direction to vary a buffer capacity of the festooner, and a first set of buffer rollers and a second set of buffer rollers held by the first holder and the second holder, respectively, wherein the first set of buffer rollers and the second set of buffer rollers define a meandering buffer path between them extending alternatingly along a buffer roller of the first set of buffer rollers and a buffer roller of the second set of buffer rollers, wherein the festooner further comprises an endless drive element for driving each buffer roller of the first set of buffer rollers and the second set of buffer rollers, wherein the festooner further comprises an overlength collector for collecting and paying out an overlength of the endless drive element as a result of a variation in the buffer capacity of the festooner, wherein the overlength collector comprises a first set of collector wheels and a second set of collector wheels that define a meandering collector path between them extending alternatingly along a collector wheel of the first set of collector wheels and a collector wheel of the second set of collector wheels, wherein the endless drive element extends along the collector path, wherein the meandering buffer path comprises a plurality of first line segments extending between the buffer rollers of the first set of buffer rollers and the second set of buffer rollers, wherein the meandering collector path comprises a plurality of second line segments extending between the collector wheels of the first set of collector wheels and the second set of collector wheels, and wherein the number of second line segments is at least twice the number of first line segments.