Düsseldorf-based venue operator D.Live, one of the pioneers of the drive-in concert format, has welcomed around 100,000 fans to its drive-in space over the past three-and-a-half months.

More than 90 events have been held at D.Live’s Autokino Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf drive-in cinema) since the company transformed a car park near the shuttered Messe Düsseldorf exhibition centre into a lockdown-friendly drive-in venue in April.

In addition to over 20 concerts by acts including SSIO, Alligatoah, Brings, Tim Bendzko, Max Giesinger, Nico Santos, Hämatom, Sondaschule, Schiller, Tom Beck and Pietro Lombardi, the Autokino has also hosted an opera gala, DJ sessions, sporting events, stand-up comedy, circus shows, film screenings and religious events.

The Local Hero Festival, the last event scheduled for the makeshift venue, took place on Sunday 19 July, with local artists performing alongside Düsseldorf band The Buggs.

“Working with brave artists, event organisers and partners, we have managed to produce something unique in this difficult time”

D.Live managing director Michael Brill says the “response and feedback” for Autokino Düsseldorf were “overwhelming”.

“Working with brave artists, event organisers and partners, we have managed to produce something unique in this difficult time,” says Brill. “The fact that around 100,000 people came to the Autokino is a brilliant result.

“My thanks to the entire D.Live team for their passionate commitment to this project, to the event organisers and artists for their bravery, our service providers who all put up a great performance at such short notice, the local authorities for their trust in us and Messe Düsseldorf for providing the space.”

D.Live will now turns its focus to bringing business back to its venues, the Merkur Spiel-Arena (54,000-cap.), Iss Dome (13,000-cap.), Mitsubishi Electric Halle (7,500-cap.) and Castello Dusseldorf (3,000-cap.), as lockdown restrictions around Europe ease.

Since D.Live started its drive-in concerts earlier this year, the format has taken off around the world, with fans enjoying live experiences from the comfort of their cars in Lithuania, Denmark, the United States, the Netherlands and, more recently, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Russia.

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German venue operator D.Live has transformed a car park near the shuttered Messe Dusseldorf exhibition centre into a lockdown-friendly drive-in cinema.

With Autokino Düsseldorf (Drive-in Cinema Dusseldorf), D.Live aims to provide Dusseldorfers with “nice experiences in this time of social distancing”, says the company, by showing movies in the P1 car park, which is usually occupied by exhibitors at the Messe.

At the Autokino, which features Europe’s biggest portable screen, tickets are scanned through car windows, while food orders are to delivered to straight to patrons’ vehicles.

:The drive-in cinema is the perfect solution”

The cinema opened on 8 April with a screening of Udo Lindenberg biopic Lindenberg! Mach dein Ding, attended by some 1,000 people in 500 cars. It also hosted Easter services over the Easter weekend.

D.Live managing director Michael Brill says: “With so many restrictions, worries and frustration, we all have a need for variety, distraction and a little entertainment more than ever. The drive-in cinema is the perfect solution to both comply with the necessary rules on the one hand, and to get finally get out [of the house] on the other.”

D.Live – whose venues include Dusseldorf’s 51,500-seat Merkur Spiel-Arena, 12,500-capacity ISS Dome and 7,500-cap. Mitsubishi Electric Halle – is the only non-UK member of Oak View Group’s International Venue Alliance, which it joined in October 2019.

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