107,000 for wet but “euphoric” OpenAir 2017
A total of 107,000 people attended last weekend’s OpenAir St Gallen, with organisers praising the festival’s “euphoric and peaceful experience” in spite of the challenges posed by wet weather.
Festivalgoers took the muddy conditions in their stride – the hashtag #schlammgallen (#mudgallen) was trending through the weekend – with 20,000 people visiting the Swiss festival on Thursday 29 June and 29,000 each day on Friday, Saturday and Saturday.
It is the first year since 2011 OpenAir has failed to reach capacity, although Swiss newspaper 20 Minuten attributes the slight drop in attendance (there were reportedly about 1,000 tickets unsold) to rumours the festival was already sold out.
Festival promoter Christof Huber says he “takes off [his] hat to our incredible audience, who made the festival a real highlight despite the rain and cold temperatures”.
“Despite cold and rainy weather conditions, the event was an euphoric but peaceful experience”
New for 2017 was the Campfire stage – which, true to its name, hosted local artists including Silas Kutschmann, Emanuel Reiter and Turtur in a small (~150-cap.) campfire setting – an expanded Plaza area featuring “food, design and street culture” and several new other food and drink options.
For the second year running, the festival also partnered with Zurich-based nonprofit myclimate to minimise the environmental impact of its food offering. Other eco-friendly achievements included 91% of reusable cups being recycled and 89% of tents taken home, underlining what OpenAir calls its “[well] known efforts in sustainability”.
Headliners were Biffy Clyro, Bastille, Justice, alt-J and German punks Die Toten Hosen, with other performers including Lorde, Glass Animals, Cage the Elephant and Confidence Man.
OpenAir St Gallen will return on 28 June–1 July 2018.
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The O2 announces tenth birthday shows
After securing a naming-rights deal with O2 for a further ten years, AEG’s The O2 in London has announced a new concert series to celebrate ten years since its opening.
Running from 16 to 24 June, the Tenth Birthday Shows series will kick off with a performance by alt-J and end with Jamiroquai’s biggest UK headline show since 2011. Further acts will be revealed “imminently”, says the 21,000-cap. venue.
The O2’s programming director, Emma Bownes, comments: “The O2 has always been the home of unforgettable live experiences and we’ve had some incredible acts take to the stage and make history over the past ten years.
“We wanted to mark our ten-year milestone by inviting artists and fans to come together and celebrate with us. We’ve brought together a selection of world-class artists to mark our ten years and it’s shaping up to be brilliant. We can’t wait.”
Nina Bibby, CMO of naming partner O2, adds: “This summer we’re celebrating ten fantastic years of unforgettable live experiences at the world’s most successful music and entertainment venue, so we’re putting on a celebration for artists and fans to help us mark the occasion.”
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