Lolla Berlin moves to Olympiapark for year four

The 2018 edition of Lollapalooza Berlin will be held at Olympiapark Berlin – the festival’s fourth venue in four years – promoters have announced, after an otherwise successful 2017 event was marred by problems with public transport.

Mumford & Sons, Foo Fighters, The xx and Two Door Cinema Club headlined Lollapalooza Berlin 2017, which was held at the Hoppegarten racecourse, around 12 miles east of Berlin, on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 September. Some 85,000 people – a new record – attended, although the festival was affected by overcrowding on Saturday night, with local media reports suggesting around 3,000 people were stuck at Hoppegarten station after trains were unable to cope with the exodus following Two Door Cinema Club’s set.

A statement issued on Sunday said organisers were “truly sorry for how long it took many of you to get home” and apologised for the “strenuous” return journey, which took some people nearly four hours to get back to Berlin.

Olympiapark, which houses the 74,475-cap. Olympiastadion, is more centrally located, lying in the Westend suburb of Berlin, just west of the inner city.

Lollapalooza Berlin, promoted by Hörstmann/Melt! and Live Nation’s Festival Republic, was forced to evacuate its original home, the disused Tempelhof Airport, when the site was converted into temporary housing for refugees in early 2016. A move to Treptower Park followed in 2016, which was opposed by many local residents and even ten states of the former USSR, as the park houses a Soviet war memorial.

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