Life’s a beach: Germany’s deck chair concert series sells fast

Organisers of Strandkorb Open Air say they’ve sold more than 35,000 tickets for Germany’s open-air deck chair concert series.

The 60-show series, which runs from July until October, has so far sold out 20 shows including VNV Nation, Philipp Poisel and Gentleman.

In the first month of Strandkorb Open Air, Brings, Höhner, Markus Krebs, Kasalla, Pietro Lombardi, Martin Rütter and Michael Mittermeier all delivered sold-out events.

“This summer, with more than 60 shows, we will ensure that this season is remembered,” SparkassenPark MD Michael Hilgers told MusikWoche.

“We never expected that the concept would attract such a great response and demand, both from artists and from the audience, and we are proud that we can realistically target the sound limit of 50,000 concertgoers. We are very much expecting it that many more shows will be sold out at short notice. ”

Strandkorb Open Air is taking place in SparkassenPark, Mönchengladbach, where 450 separate deck chairs have been divided into nine units to adhere to social distancing.

“We never expected that the concept would attract such a great response and demand, both from artists and from the audience”

Each unit contains 50 deck chairs and operates with a one-way system to avoid contact between visitors. The event also requires guests to book food and drinks in advance which will be waiting in a cool box in the beach chair upon their arrival.

The series was launched after German chancellor, Angela Merkel, announced in June that major events in the country will be banned until the start of November unless organisers can prove that social distancing measures and hygiene protocol can be met.

Earlier today, Live Nation announced the biggest concert Germany has seen since March, marking the return of large-scale events this autumn.

Return to Live will take place in September at the 54,000-capacity outdoor stadium, Merkur Spiel Arena in Düsseldorf.

Bryan Adams, Sarah Connor, Rea Garvey, The BossHoss, Michael Mittermeier and Joris will play to 12,000 seated fans, who’ll be required to follow a strict health and safety procedure.

Elsewhere, Bayreuth-based promoter Semmel Concerts is planning to invite 5,000 fans to open-air concerts at the Waldbühne amphitheatre in Berlin, in September.

This article forms part of IQ’s Covid-19 resource centre – a knowledge hub of essential guidance and updating resources for uncertain times.

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