Festivals and concerts in the region Coming this summer to Bonn’s open air scene
Bonn · When the weather gets warmer, many Bonners look forward to open air events. And there is a wide range of choices from the electro festival in the Rheinaue to a punk concert in Vilich to free concerts in the city garden.
Julian Reiniger, co-founder and organizer of the Green Juice Festival, is relaxed in his backyard in Schwarzheindorf: The festival line-up has been determined and tickets are being sold. But until the festival begins on August 17 in the park in Neu-Vilich, there are still some things to be accomplished. The City of Bonn, for example is still proofing the security plan. And the young organizers also want to prepare for a scenario in which the weather would take a turn for the worse, having not forgotten their experience from last year.
Ironically, in the tenth year of the music event last year, heavy rainfall caused the team to break off the first day of the concert. The park area looked like a field of mud. Because of that experience, there is an emergency plan in place for this year: Before trucks drive onto the site, slabs will be laid on the ground to create a temporary driveway. As well, a truck storing additional slabs or flooring will be situated on site in case they need to be laid out to create a surface for the concert.
But it’s not only the weather that is a question mark for the organizers. It’s also about how many tickets get sold. Reiniger already booked the band “Leoniden” last Spring, he considers the band from Kiel a real insider tip. The headliner is British band The Subways.
What’s new this year is a camping grounds. A grassy area on Maarstraße will offer space for 1,000 visitors to stay overnight in tents. For that, power lines have to be laid. The organizers want to keep improving their own festival and have also taken a look at classic festivals such as “Rock am Ring” behind the scenes. But Reiniger says he finds smaller festivals more relaxing, and that Bonn now has a lot to offer.
Here’s a look at the festivals coming up:
Panama Open Air
Altogether 70 artists will perform in the Rheinaue Park on July 13 and 14. It’s an Electro festival, and the line-up of the bands will be announced in mid-May. One of the acts is Belgian DJ Lost Frequencies. Organizers are working on improving the sound quality for this year. The concert area will be more compact and offer more seating, and a camping area for 2,000 guests will be available. Sandro Heinemann, organizer and CEO of Rheinevents, commented that concert attendees last year were extremely well-behaved.
Kunst!Rasen
The start for this concert season is on June 28, with British legend Tom Jones. These concerts are on the grassy area near the Bötchensee (little lake) at the Rheinaue Park. The concert for the popular German group Fantastischen Vier has already been sold out for months. Around 9,000 visitors are expected for that. The concert series runs for eight weeks. Other acts who will perform there are American rap rock band Limp Bizkit, Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morisette and German singer Wincent Weiss. On July 1, Bonners can bring a picnic and a glass of wine to the park for a free concert from the Beethoven Orchestra - the event is called Klassik!Picknick.
Park in the Rheinaue
“Jazz in the beer garden” is a series of jazz concerts at the Park Restaurant Rhine, and it begins on May 13. Every Sunday, there is family jazz from 2 - 5pm. From the beginning of July until the end of August, there is the SWB-Sommerfestival with free concerts in the beer garden of the Park Restaurant on Mondays through Saturdays.
The carnival themed festival “Jeck in Sunnesching” makes a return this year on September 1 with many popular bands from Cologne and the region.
From July 27 - 29, the Bonn Beer Exchange will take place once again, with beer varieties from all over the world. 80 different beer distributors are expected to be on hand with more than 700 different kinds of beer.
Stadtgarten (City Garden)
Concerts take place at the Alten Zoll in the city on five weekends in August and September. No admission is charged and performers include Bonn bands and international artists. Groups Harmonie Bonn and Hard-Rock Club Bonn will play there for the first time. Around 1,000 visitors come to each of the ten concerts. French bands The Buttshakers and Fergessen will also perform.
Orig. Text: Sabrina Bauer, Translation: ck
