Semmel to host 5,000-cap. Berlin concerts in Sept

Bayreuth-based promoter Semmel Concerts has announced it will host the biggest live shows in Germany since lockdown began in March, with a series of open-air concerts at the Waldbühne amphitheatre in Berlin.

The Back to Live concert series will welcome 5,000 fans to the 22,000-capacity arena in September 2020. A custom-designed hygiene protocol will be in place at the event, which will also respect all distancing regulations.

The shows will be the biggest post-Covid concerts to take place in the country so far, following on from two 1,000-capacity, socially distanced, standing events in the region of Saxony earlier this month.

German acts including Roland Kaiser, Wincent Weiss and Sido, as well as comedian Helge Schneider are set to perform as part of the series. Semmel and the Waldbühne are currently in talks with numerous other acts, with the aim of putting on eight to ten shows throughout September.

“We want to send out a signal for the highly desired restart of major live events,” says Semmel CEO Dieter Semmelmann.

“We want to send out a signal for the highly-desired restart of major live events”

“Economically this will be a major accomplishment for everybody involved. We want to realise concerts for a large audience again and show that live concerts belong to the most beautiful cultural experiences and are inherently relevant.“

However, Semmelmann adds that the shows, which utilise less than 25% of the Waldbühne’s full capacity, “are not a model for the future”.

Large-scale events are currently banned in Germany until the end of October, although exceptions are granted to those that can track infections and comply with hygiene rules.

Next month, a team of German scientists is running a series of event simulations with the aim of developing ways of allowing major events to go ahead without the risk of spreading of the virus.

Tickets for Semmel’s first Waldbühne shows, featuring Roland Kaiser on 4 September, Sido on 5 September, Helge Schneider on 6 September and Wincent Weiss on 18 September, will be available here on 27 July at 12 p.m. CET.

Only seated tickets are available, with up to four people from the same household permitted to attend the concerts together.

Photo: Times/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) (cropped)

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