Festivals 2022: This is possible this summer in Lower Saxony
Created: 01/23/2022, 14:23
By: Yannick Hanke
Close together, without a mask, but with a lot of fun: Are pictures like the ones from the Hurricane Festival 2019 still possible in 2022 despite Omikron?
(Archive image) © Christoph Schmidt/dpa
It's already been two years without festivals.
Despite the corona situation and Omikron, everything should get better in 2022.
The plans of the dike fire, hurricane and others.
Cuxhaven/Dangast/Scheeßel – Sometimes sun, sometimes rain, plus a cool beer and enjoying the music of your favorite band: the festival concept is as simple as it is successful.
Lower Saxony in particular is not stingy with open-air events lasting several days in the summer months.
But big names like the Deichbrand Festival or the Hurricane Festival could not take place for two years because of Corona *.
Now hopes rest on 2022 – despite Omikron.
Omikron ensures high corona numbers: But are festivals still possible in 2022?
Nationwide and thus also in Lower Saxony, the corona infection process remains tense.
New highs in terms of incidence and infections are recorded almost every day.
And yet the festival anticipation in Lower Saxony is unabated.
Because in many places in the northern federal state, planning for the 2022 festival summer is already underway.
This year everything should be different and therefore better.
After two years of painful deprivation and mostly only live stream alternatives, the festivals in Lower Saxony want to celebrate their big comeback.
"We are glad that together with our artists we can finally catch up on the vast majority of the promised shows," says Jonas Rohde, spokesman for the festival organizer FKP Scorpio.
Festival summer 2022 in Lower Saxony: organizer FKP Scorpio despite Omikron with "anticipation"
The Hamburg-based event company is responsible for organizing the Deichbrand and Hurricane Festival, among other things.
Major events that attracted between 60,000 and 80,000 visitors at their last edition in 2019.
A large number of people who should actually be in blatant contradiction to the omicron spread and the call for contact restrictions.
Or not?
The incidences, which are currently increasing due to the Omicron variant, do not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the festival summer, which we are looking forward to with anticipation and extremely optimistically.
Jonas Rohe, spokesman for the festival organizer FKP Scorpio, has no concerns that the 2022 festival summer can take place
Rohde refers to the experiences of the past two years and model calculations, according to which a sharp decline in the number of corona infections in the summer can be assumed.
That is why there is no “relationship between the current situation and our festivals”.
Deichbrand Festival 2022: Planning is in full swing during the pandemic
When asked explicitly about the festival summer* 2022, a spokeswoman for the Deichbrand Festival in Cuxhaven also spoke to the dpa.
"That's why we are planning the next Deichbrand Festival at full speed and have internally positioned ourselves even more broadly for the next festival edition," Lena Zielinski refers to the expected development of the Corona situation.
Deichbrand Festival
: Thursday 21 July to Sunday 24 July 2022;
up to 60,000 visitors expected.
Featuring artists like Kraftklub, Dropkick Murphys, Sido, Bosse, Danko Jones and Jupiter Jones.
Hurricane Festival
: Friday 17 June to Sunday 19 June 2022;
up to 80,000 visitors expected.
Featuring artists like Seeed, Deichkind, Kings of Leon, Rise Against and The Killers
M'era Luna Festival
: Saturday 6 August to Sunday 7 August 2022;
up to 25,000 visitors expected.
With artists like The Sisters of Mercy, Schandmaul, Feuerschwanz and Megaherz.
Reload Festival
: Thursday 18 August to Saturday 20 August 2022;
last visited by around 12,500 guests.
Featuring artists like Heaven Shall Burn, Eskimo Callboy, Torfrock, Die Kassierer and As I Lay Dying.
Watt en Schlick Festival
: Friday 29 July to Sunday 31 July 2022;
up to 6,000 visitors expected.
No artists confirmed yet.
Recently, among others, AnnenMayKantereit, Milky Chance, Giant Rooks and Leoniden.
White Sands Festival
: Friday 3 June to Sunday 5 June 2022;
up to 50,000 visitors expected.
Program of beach volleyball, electronic music, side events and parties.
At the end of July, as before the pandemic, there will be boisterous celebrations, dancing and drinking at the Nordholz airfield.
Up to 60,000 visitors are expected again, who can look forward to bands such as Kraftklub, Nightwish or DJ Steve Aoki.
Hurricane Festival 2022: Up to 80,000 visitors expected - M'era Luna plans comeback with 25,000 Gothic fans
But Scheeßel is also tempting again despite the corona pandemic.
In mid-June, the organizers expect up to 80,000 passionate music fans to attend the Hurricane Festival.
Artists such as Seeed, The Killers or Martin Garrix invite you to a few days of musical escape from everyday life on the stages of the Eichenring sand race track.
If you like it a little darker, you should look at the M'era Luna Festival in Hildesheim.
At the beginning of August, the who's who of the gothic, metal and wave scene will be performing here at Drispenstedt Airport.
Around 25,000 festival-goers can look forward to ASP or The Sisters of Mercy.
Festivals in the Corona crisis: No reduction in the number of guests - financial losses would be too great
With all the anticipation and planning, however, the question of possible test and protection concepts must also be allowed.
For specific information, the festival dates would still be too far away, according to Deichbrand spokeswoman Zielinski, for example.
Only one thing is already certain: a reduction in the number of guests is out of the question.
On the one hand, all ticket buyers have the right to finally be able to use the paid service, on the other hand, a festival with a reduced number of visitors would by no means be economical.
Jonas Rohe, spokesman for the festival organizer FKP Scorpio, does not expect a reduction in visitors to festivals such as the Deichbrand or Hurricane
Because in the corona pandemic, production costs have increased.
This is one of the reasons why the live industry is dependent on getting back to normal operations as quickly as possible.
Otherwise there is a risk of a massive wave of layoffs within the industry, as the Federal Association of the Event Industry fears.
Between financial "death blow" and "longing for festivals": hopes and fears of the event industry
"More than three-quarters of the event companies will terminate their employees in March 2022 due to a lack of short-time work," says Managing Director Jan Kalbfleisch to the dpa.
The reason for this is the expiry of the short-time allowance after 24 months, which, when the pandemic broke out, also represented a financial emergency patch for many employees in the event sector in Germany in order to avoid the financial “death blow”.
Last but not least, the organizers of the White Sands Festival on Norderney also hope for a regular event operation and thus also for a regular income.
We are still working on a new edition of the open-air event on the Pentecost weekend at the beginning of June.
"There is a great longing for festivals," says spokesman Wolfgang Lübben in this context.
If the festival is held in its usual form (beach volleyball, kite surfing, parties), an above-average number of guests is expected.
Before the pandemic, up to 50,000 visitors came to Norderney for the festival.
Corona model project Watt en Schlick: Festival in Dangast was able to celebrate its comeback in 2021
In the North Sea resort of Dangast, the omens for the Watt en Schlick are also good.
Festival spokeswoman Sofie Buchwald assumes that the three-day bash can take place in the spa town - for the second time in a row.
In 2021, the Watt en Schlick was allowed to be held as a model project by the state of Lower Saxony.
From Friday to Sunday, up to 6000 visitors were able to attend live music, readings and the "Schlickenschlittenrenne".
With scientific support and a comprehensive hygiene concept, it was possible to celebrate again in Dangast.
For this, the guests, including those who had recovered and those who had been vaccinated, had to be tested daily.
A smear that was accepted benevolently.
That's how it should be at Watt en Schlick in 2022 - still without bands, but already sold out.
Reload Festival in Sulingen relies on metal and punk greats - will Wacken Open Air 2022 defy the pandemic?
That leaves the Reload Festival in Sulingen, which, unlike Watt en Schlick, was last able to take place in 2019.
Back then, around 12,500 visitors could indulge in the sounds of metal, metalcore and punk artists.
The tickets for 2022 are already on sale, and the dedicated festival community can look forward to big names like Heaven Shall Burn, Eskimo Callboy and Arch Enemy.
A festival summer 2022 in Lower Saxony despite Corona and the Omikron variant: Nothing is ready for a decision yet, neither an absolute guarantee nor a crowd of cancellations.
But as we all know, hope dies last.
And the example of Watt en Schlick from 2021 is encouraging.
Even if a "big player" like Wacken Open Air was less fortunate and had to give in last year despite several attempts*.
But if not now, then when?
* kreiszeitung.de and 24hamburg.de are offers from IPPEN.MEDIA.