Fruzsina Szép on “almost perfect” Superbloom
Superbloom director Fruzsina Szép has spoken to IQ about the “almost perfect” second edition of the German festival.
The two-day event returned to Munich’s historic Olympic Park last weekend (2–3 September), featuring artists including Imagine Dragons, Martin Garrix, Peter Fox, Ava Max, Ellie Goulding and more.
Despite last year’s teething problems, the Goodlive-promoted festival continued its sell-out streak, with 50,000 attendees on each of the two days.
“We had so many learnings from 2022 and only one year to apply them but all the effort was worth it because we really succeeded in correcting the mistakes and failures,” says Szép.
One of the biggest issues with last year’s edition was crowd flow around the 70,000-capacity Olympic Stadium, which meant organisers were forced to halt entry to the main stage before it reached full capacity.
“I’ve never experienced a festival like this, that I’ve been involved with”
“This year, we moved the stage to the head of the stadium so it was much easier to get in and out and there was a constant flow, no backlogs,” she explains. “All the space was there to stand or sit and we had separate areas for our premium guests.”
Crowd flow around the festival was also relieved by increased signage: “We communicated with the audience beforehand and throughout to inform them about the challenges [of the festival site] and of the time it takes to walk between stages,” she adds.
The extreme weather at the debut edition, which forced Years & Years to forego their set on the main stage, was also a distant memory and the band returned to perform in 23-degree heat.
Also contributing to a successful edition was the lack of incidents at this year’s festival. “It was an absolutely beautiful and calm atmosphere throughout those two days. I’ve never experienced a festival like this, that I’ve been involved with,” says the seasoned festival pro, who has previously worked on Sziget (Hungary) and Lollapalooza Berlin.
“We did a lot of communication upfront about safety and security and how important that is for us,” says Szép. “We let our audience know that we doubled the inclusion and awareness teams this year. It’s about creating safer spaces all over the festival and having mobile teams.”
“People said they’ve never seen so many people with disabilities partying together with the crowd”
Szép believes the increased support teams, in combination with a diverse programme, is the reason for Superbloom’s majority-female audience, which has increased from 60% to 70% since last year.
Female representation on the lineup was also high – at 45% – though the director says the goal isn’t to achieve a gender-balanced bill. “The goal is to have a good bill that is also diverse, with plenty of queer artists and artists living with disabilities,” she says.
Accessibility was once again a top priority for Szép, who grew up with a blind father. For this year’s edition, Superbloom doubled the size of the wheelchair area in the stadium and increased the number of disabled toilets. The festival attracted three times more people living with disabilities than last year.
“Audience members said they’ve never seen so many people with disabilities partying together with the crowd and how amazing it was to see that,” says Szép. “Everybody should have the possibility to have the best time of their life at a festival.
“In our experience areas, we programmed a lot of content that was about inclusion, diversity and social issues – like what is it like to be living with a disability. And we had a German rapper, who creates ironic songs about his disability, perform and appear on a panel. These are small but important things for our mission.”
“I never want to organise a perfect festival – although this year was almost perfect”
Though Szép has been widely celebrated for Superbloom’s accessibility, including by the German government, it firmly remains top of her list for the next edition.
“For the 2024 edition, I’d like to develop more services for disabled people. I’d also like to work on more special partnerships with companies that represent global, local and social issues, and on the experience aspect of the festival, making more use of the lake,” she says.
“There’s always space for development. My expectations are pretty high but I know you have to improve step by step – I think it’s important to have a natural development and not to do everything at once. I never want to organise a perfect festival – although this year was almost perfect.
“It’s also a financial question anyway. In times like these, when prices are getting higher and higher, organising a festival or creating a new brand is a huge financial risk. It will take some time for Superbloom to be profitable – it’s an investment – but we already have a strong brand in year two.
“I’m really thankful to our audience that they trusted us and bought our tickets, despite the problems that we had last year. So many festivals in Germany and Europe struggled but we sold out again. I think after year three we can be sure Superbloom will have a very stable future.”
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European Festival Awards 2022 winners revealed
Denmark’s Roskilde Festival, the Netherlands’ Mojo Concerts and Atlas Ukraine were among the big winners at last night’s European Festival Awards (EFA).
The in-person ceremony, held at De Oosterpoort in Groningen, the Netherlands as part of Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS), returned to celebrate the best of the 2022 season after a forced hiatus due to the pandemic.
Already announced as winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award, Roskilde also triumphed in two other categories at the EFA’s 12th edition – Best Major Festival and The Impossible without Youth Award.
In their acceptance speech, the team praised the festival’s army of volunteers (“We couldn’t do it without them”), along with the “best audience in the world”. “We are so proud and so honoured,” they added. “Thank you for seeing the ambition and the idea and the community behind this.”
Elsewhere, Atlas Festival & Music Saves UA received a standing ovation when picking up the Take A Stand Award, while Mojo collected Promoter of the Year.
“Two years of corona showed how difficult it is to organise the things we love”
Germany’s Superbloom was named Best New Festival. “Two years of corona showed how difficult it is to organise the things we love,” said Superbloom organiser Fruzsina Szép. “And to start a new brand, even more so.”
X-ray Touring’s Josh Javor dedicated his Agent of the Year gong to his mentor, “the one and only legend”, Steve Strange and recalled the times Strange took him to Eurosonic. “Because of him I didn’t know there were panels for three years because all we did was drink, watch bands and sleep,” he joked.
The Award for Excellence & Passion, meanwhile, went to festival veteran Holger Jan Schmidt. Dubbed a “A true servant for the cause”, Schmidt said: “I can only do something with passion. Burnout goes hand in hand with passion. I think we should all take a look at ourselves. How much can we do. How much passion can we invest?”
Festivals from more than 30 countries participated in the awards process, with 300,000 single votes cast by the public, resulting in 124 shortlisted nominees in 15 categories, not counting the Lifetime Achievement Award.
The full list of winners is as follows:
The Take a Stand Award
Atlas Festival & Music Saves UA (Ukraine)
Best New Festival
Superbloom (Germany)
The Impossible without Youth Award
Roskilde Festival (Denmark)
Best Indoor Festival
Iceland Airwaves (Iceland)
Line-Up of the Year
Hellfest (France)
The Health & Safety Innovation Award
Watt en Schlick Fest (Germany)
Agent of the Year
Josh Javor (X-Ray Touring)
Best Small Festival
Roadburn (The Netherlands)
Newcomer of the Year
Fred Again (UK)
The Brand Activation Award
Wacken Open Air (Germany) & Krombacher
Best Medium-Sized Festival
Best Kept Secret (The Netherlands)
The Green Operations Award
Rock Werchter (Belgium)
Best Major Festival
Roskilde Festival (Denmark)
The Award for Excellence & Passion
Holger Jan Schmidt
Promoter of the Year
Mojo (The Netherlands)
The Lifetime Achievement Award
Roskilde Festival (Denmark)
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2023 lineups take shape: Superbloom, Sziget and more
Superbloom, Standon Calling, Sziget, Shaky Knees and Kite’s 2023 lineups are taking shape, with rafts of new additions announced.
After its successful debut this year, Goodlive’s Superbloom returns to Munich’s Olympiapark on 2 and 3 September, 2023.
Imagine Dragons, Martin Garrix, Ellie Goulding, Marteria, Badmómzjay, Zara Larsson, Ofenbach, Aurora, LostFrequencies, Giant Rooks, Years & Years and Cat Burns are among the first wave of confirmations for the second instalment.
The inaugural edition sold out, welcoming 50,000 fans each day. Goodlive director Fruzsina Szép reflected on the successful launch in an IQ inteview.
Standon Calling has announced Years & Years, Self Esteem, Bloc Party and The Human League
Elsewhere, the UK’s Standon Calling has announced that Years & Years, Self Esteem, Bloc Party and The Human League will headline the 2023 offering.
Anastacia, Confidence Man, Dylan, Squid, Katy B, KT Tunstall and Melanie C will also perform at the 17th edition of the boutique music and arts festival.
Festival founder and director Alex Trenchard says “We’re so proud of this year’s progress in booking a gender-balanced headline bill.”
The Broadwick Live-owned festival will return to the Hertfordshire countryside between 20 and 23 July 2023.
Across the Atlantic, Shaky Knees has confirmed headliners The Killers, Muse and The Lumineers for the 10th-anniversary edition.
Shaky Knees has confirmed headliners The Killers, Muse and The Lumineers for the 10th-anniversary edition
More than 60 bands will perform across four stages during the 2023 festival, slated for 5–7 May at Central Park, downtown Atlanta.
Greta Van Fleet, Tenacious D, Hozier, The Mars Volta, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Flaming Lips performing “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots,” Cypress Hill performing “Black Sunday” have also been announced.
The festival is promoted by Live Nation subsidiary C3 Presents, who today announced new festival Palm Tree in Aspen.
Elsewhere, Hungary’s Sziget festival has unveiled the first wave of artists for next year, including headliners Billie Eilish, Florence & The Machine, David Guetta and Imagine Dragons.
Other confirmations include Sam Fender, Foals, Niall Horan, Yungblud, Jamie xx and Nothing But Thieves.
Tinderbox has lined up Maroon 5, George Ezra, Jada, bbno$ and Oliver Malcolm
Europe’s biggest festival will return to Óbuda Island in Budapest between 10 and 15 August 2023.
In Denmark, Tinderbox has lined up Maroon 5, George Ezra, Jada, bbno$ and Oliver Malcolm for the 2023 event, between 22–24 June in Odense, Funen.
Last year, the festival broke records when a daily number of 48,000 people visited the festival again after two years of cancellations.
The UK’s Kite festival today announced it will return for a second year, with musical artists including Hot Chip, Suede, Candi Staton, Lynks and Sarathy Korwar.
Hailed as a “festival of ideas and music,” the Oxfordshire event will also feature authors, actors, comedians, journalists, motivational speakers and more. The festival is set for 9–11 June at Kirtlington Park.
See more festival lineup announcements from the likes of Roskilde, Primavera and Nova Rock here.
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Fruzsina Szép reflects on Superbloom’s sold-out debut
Seasoned festival pro Fruzsina Szép has spoken to IQ about the debut edition of Goodlive’s newest festival, Superbloom.
The two-day event finally launched in Munich’s historic Olympic Park last weekend (3–4 September) after two postponements due to Covid-related restrictions.
Calvin Harris, Macklemore, Megan Thee Stallion, Rita Ora, Skepta and David Guetta were among the acts that performed across 11 stages during the event.
Alongside live music, the festival delivered a multi-faceted programme of art, culture, diversity, lifestyle, society, research and development, sustainability and science, with the aim of “redefining the music festival concept”.
“I wanted to create a 360-degree festival experience and I think we’ve done that well,” says Szép. “It was important to me that the visitors immersed themselves in a charming world and experienced many moments of happiness that they can now take with them into their everyday lives.”
The inaugural edition drew 50,000 visitors and ultimately sold out, which Szép says was “a dream come true” after a “mentally challenging” few years for the Superbloom team.
“It’s a new festival, a new brand, a new site and there are new colleagues, so there’s a learning curve”
And while the event was a success, Szép says that there’s plenty of room for improvement.
“It’s a new festival, a new brand, a new site and there are new colleagues, so there’s a learning curve…we have to be patient,” says the director, who has previously worked on Lollapalooza Berlin and Sziget.
“Sometimes our audience expects us to be 100% but we are not perfect and I don’t want to be perfect,” she continues. “I always wanted to have the possibility to make mistakes but to learn from them and to correct them and make them better in the next year. I’m not afraid to receive criticism – I grow from it.”
The biggest learning curve for the festival, she says, was navigating the unique site, which utilised the 70,000-capacity Olympic Stadium as the main stage.
On Saturday night, organisers were forced to halt entry to the stadium, where headliner Calvin Harris was playing his only German concert this year, due to a crowd flow issue.
“The problem was, on the floor of the stadium there is a maximum capacity of 20,000 and that was already full,” explains Szép.
“Sometimes our audience expects us to be 100% but we are not perfect and I don’t want to be perfect”
“There would have been space for 30–40,000 more people in the seats but people were stopping and sitting down at the beginning of the seats, rather than moving to the far end.
“Many people were queueing outside and some people were trying to go to another stage so it became the kind of situation which could have been very difficult. And Calvin Harris was already playing so it was impossible for the security and volunteers to ask people to get up and move along. That’s why we had to decide very quickly to stop letting people into the stadium.
“We were planning the crowd flow for months but we weren’t prepared for people to sit down at the beginning of the stands.”
The next day, the Superbloom team communicated the crowd flow to fans and the main stage programme went off without a hitch.
Extreme weather also proved to be an issue on the Saturday, with strong winds, heavy rain, lightning and thunder causing the programme to grind to a halt for an hour and a half.
As a result, Years & Years were forced to forego their set on the main stage and Megan Thee Stallion’s slot was reduced to 30 minutes.
Superbloom was praised by the German government for making the festival inclusive and accessible for disabled music fans
“The safety and security of our audience, our artists and our team is the first priority when we are on-site – no question,” says Szép. “Severe weather is an issue for every open-air event – we have to deal with force majeure measures all the time. These are normal procedures.”
Challenges aside, the festival was hailed as one of the most diverse events in the European festival market, with a range of ages, genders, races, nationalities and sexualities represented on the lineup. This was ultimately reflected in the audience – 60% of which were female.
In addition, Superbloom was praised by the German government for making the festival inclusive and accessible for disabled music fans.
“We worked closely with a group of experts who live with disabilities to help us deliver the maximum festival experience for others [with handicaps],” says Szép.
“Yesterday I was in a panel with the government’s representative for disabled people living in Germany, who is blind himself, and he said he has never before seen a German festival of that size so well organised for disabled people. That gave me such a great feeling.”
Having grown up with a blind father, accessibility is a matter close to Szép’s heart and has informed many aspects of the festival.
Having grown up with a blind father, accessibility is a matter close to Szép’s heart
“I grew up in Munich. And, for many years, on many weekends, my father and I would walk around this Olympic Park. He told me to experience the world not just with my eyes but with all my senses so I had this in my head while creating the concept for the festival.
“Being an adult now and having the possibility to organise Superbloom here was so emotional and I could feel my father’s energy,” says Szép.
Alongside the main stages, the Superbloom programme included an area hosting 30 NGOs including Greenpeace and Music Declares Emergency, assembled by Yourope general manager Holger Schmidt.
Other dedicated areas focussed on art, fashion, and theatre, with roaming performances ranging from robot dogs and giraffes, to ballerinas twirling atop mobile pianos and marching bands.
Superbloom returns to the Olympic Park in Munich from 2-3 September 2023.
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More speakers confirmed for IFF 2022
The latest round of guest speakers and conference topics have been unveiled for the International Festival Forum (IFF) 2022, ILMC’s invitation-only event for music festivals and booking agents.
United Talent Agency’s UK office co-head Obi Asika is the first industry leader confirmed to join host James Drury (ILMC) for The Festival Season 2022, to discuss the key challenges organisers have faced as we look forward to a smoother 2023.
Wasserman Music’s Adele Slater (UK) and Chris Payne (WME, UK) will appear alongside IQ Magazine‘s Gordon Masson and Smash!Bang!Pow! CEO Nikolaj Thorenfeldt (DK) on Festivals & Agents: Happier than ever? to examine the main ingredients powering our multi-billion dollar business.
And Barbara Hexges (Superbloom!, DE) will speak at The New Kids on the Block, a quickfire presentation session of every key new festival and agency that’s emerged in the last 18 months, alongside Stephan Thanscheidt (Tempelhof Sounds, DE) and Jess Kinn & Sean Goulding from One Fiinix Live (UK).
The first 400 delegates from 26 countries are now signed up for IFF 2022
IFF 2022 will offer the usual plethora of networking, showcases, panels, and parties – all taking place between 27-29 September in London. Check out the first speaker announcement here.
The first 400 delegates from 26 countries are now signed up, with demand for IFF 2022 passes proving higher than ever.
IFF’s new delegate hub, the Holiday Inn in Camden, will be transformed into IFF Central for three days and host conference sessions, private parties and meetings, and speed dating for attendees.
Wasserman Music, WME, CAA, UTA, Primary Talent, ATC Live, X-Ray Touring, Solo Agency, Pure, One Finiix Live and Earth Agency are among the first to back the 2022 edition as agency partners, many of whom will present showcases featuring the hottest new talent.
Full information about this year’s event, including how to apply for a pass, is online at www.iff.rocks.
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Superbloom hires Annika Hintz as head of booking
Germany’s Goodlive has named Annika Hintz as head of music booking for its newest festival, Superbloom.
She succeeds Christof Huber (Gadget abc Entertainment Group AG), who led the booking team on an interim basis.
Hintz previously worked at Hamburg-based promoter Kopf und Steine, where she was head of booking and department head of the festivals. As part of her role, she was responsible for booking Hamburg festivals MS Dockville and Spektrum until 2020.
Between March 2020 and January 2022, Annika Hintz was responsible for booking the About You Pangea Festival, the only festival that was allowed to take place in Germany in 2021 with a capacity of 15,000 visitors.
“A diverse and sophisticated line-up is guaranteed for the years to come”
She was also responsible for Das Ding Festival in Mannheim, the Way Back When Festival in Dortmund and Kosmos Chemnitz.
Hintz will now take on the national and international booking for Superbloom, which debuts between 3–4 September at Munich Olympic Park.
The music, arts and lifestyle festival will host acts including Calvin Harris, Kraftklub, Megan The Stallion, Rita Ora and Stromae.
“We are very pleased that we were able to win such a great booker as Annika for Superbloom,” says Fruzsina Szép, festival director and managing director of Superbloom Festival.
“With their comprehensive view of new and established artists, a diverse and sophisticated line-up is guaranteed for the years to come. We would like to thank Christof Huber for his support this year and are delighted that he will continue to serve as a strategic advisor will work for the Superbloom and support the booking team.”
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Goodlive details debut outing of Superbloom
Germany’s Goodlive has detailed the inaugural edition of Munich festival Superbloom.
The two-day event was due to launch two years ago but was postponed in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-related restrictions.
The highly anticipated festival is now set to take place at Munich’s historic Olympic Park on 3 and 4 September.
Calvin Harris, Macklemore, Megan Thee Stallion, Rita Ora, Skepta, Years & Years and Tupoka Ogette have today been confirmed to perform at Superbloom 2022.
They join previously announced acts David Guetta, AnnenMayKantereit, Kraftklub, Glass Animals, Stromae, Anne-Marie, Zoe Wees, Kaya Yanar, Willow and Girl in Red.
Calvin Harris, Macklemore, Megan Thee Stallion, Rita Ora, Skepta, Years & Years and Tupoka Ogette have today been confirmed
In addition to musical artists, best-selling author, human rights activist and anti-racism expert Tupoka Ogette will give a keynote speech on the main stage.
The Berlin comedian Kurt Krömer and comedy veteran Kaya Yanar will deliver comedy shows, and many other artists and podcasters will also be part of the diverse line-up.
Alongside the entertainment, Superbloom will offer 11 ‘experience areas’ centred around art, fashion, science, sustainability, dance and acrobatics.
Further experience areas as well as the line-up of the newcomer stage NeoNeo and the BeerBrass&Beats beer garden will be announced in the coming months.
The Superbloom team is spearheaded by European festival pro Fruzsina Szép, who was appointed MD of the festival in 2019.
See the line-up for Superbloom below.
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Germany’s Goodlive announces reshuffle
Germany’s Goodlive has announced a new management structure “in preparation for ‘the roaring 20s’ of the post-pandemic live entertainment industry”.
Co-founders and managing partners Stefan Lehmkuhl and Thomas Resch have announced their departure from the company, leaving Fruzsina Szép, Julian Gupta and Justus Mang with greater responsibility.
Gupta, alongside his role as managing director of Ferropolis-based festival splash! (cap. 30,000), will also assume responsibility for the festival booking team at Goodlive.
In addition, he will also take over the management and booking of Freiburg-based festival Heroes, which Goodlive partnered with in early 2020, working alongside the festival’s founder Lukas Apfelbacher.
Szép, who was appointed MD of Superbloom in 2019, will be primarily responsible for the Munich launch of the festival.
“[Fruzsina, Julian and Justus] have one of the best teams in the world at their disposal”
Meanwhile, Mang heads Goodlive Artists, the company’s touring arm (description), which recently expanded to Austria.
In the future, all three will actively support the management of Goodlive, alongside the remaining confounders and managing partners at the company Marko Hegner and Mirko Roßner. The fifth cofounder of Goodlive, Matthias Hörstmann, left in 2017.
Stefan Lehmkuhl says: “I am incredibly proud and delighted that trusted friends like Fruzsina, Julian and Justus will play a more leading role in shaping the future of Goodlive. They have one of the best teams in the world at their disposal, and many of the people I’ve worked with over the years are taking on more responsibility for some of the projects I’ve had the pleasure to help shape over the past 20 years.
“Personally, I long for a period of pause and reflection on whether and in what capacity I see my future in the live entertainment industry after the pandemic, and I am happy to have the privilege of taking a longer break after more than two decades of never standing still.”
“We feel well-positioned to further expand our role as an independent alternative in the festival and touring market”
Thomas Resch adds: “When I stumbled into the live entertainment industry 25 years ago at the young age of 18, I could not have imagined where this journey would lead. It was a very exciting time with many challenges and even more unforgettable moments.
“During the last years, Julian Gupta has firmly shaped splash! and achieved a great deal. I am sure that under his leadership, our strong team will master all other challenges and that Goodlive will continue on its successful path.”
Marko Hegner, MD, Goodlive, says: “We feel well-positioned to further expand our role as an independent alternative in the festival and touring market from 2022 onwards and are incredibly excited to finally tackle projects that had already been planned before Corona, such as Superbloom Festival in Munich, Heroes Festival in Freiburg and the launch of Goodlive Artists in Austria.
“I have a lot of respect for Thomas’ and Stefan’s decisions to put their own needs first after a pandemic that was demanding for all of us, and I am grateful that together we have succeeded in optimally positioning Goodlive for the future in terms of personnel during a longer preparation phase.”
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Fruzsina Szép named MD of Munich’s Superbloom fest
Experienced European festival pro Fruzsina Szép has joined Superbloom, a new event debuting in Munich next September, as managing director.
Szép was most recently festival director of Lollapalooza Berlin, which she had overseen since its launch in 2015. Before joining Lolla Berlin (produced by Superbloom organiser Goodlive for Live Nation’s C3 Presents and Festival Republic), she spent seven years as programme director for Budapest’s Sziget festival.
“I will dedicate my entire expertise, passion, attention to detail and creativity to the exciting challenge as managing director and festival director of Superbloom within Goodlive GmbH,” she comments. “I am especially happy that we are bringing this exceptional format to my hometown, Munich.
“My focus is to combine tradition and innovation, local and international, in a loving and special way, to craft a unique and new experience that can only take place in Munich.”
Superbloom will take place for the first time on 4 and 5 September 2021, its debut delayed by Germany’s summer-long large-event ban.
Held at Munich’s Olympic Stadium/Olympiapark, Superbloom promises a “new festival experience” that “redefines the music festival concept” with mix of “international and national live acts” and “art, culture, diversity, lifestyle, society, research and development, sustainability and science”.
“Building a new festival brand in these times is a unique opportunity”
Performers including Miley Cyrus, David Guetta, DJ Snake, the Pussycat Dolls, Scooter and Liam Payne were to have played the 2020 festival.
“Building a new festival brand in these times is a unique opportunity,” says Stefan Lehmkuhl, managing partner of Goodlive, “in a new era, without blinders from the past, but also with major social challenges. With Superbloom I couldn’t imagine a better team for this than the one under the leadership of my longtime friend and colleague, Fruzsina.”
In addition to her years with Lollapalooza and Sziget, Hungarian-born Szép founded the Hungarian Music Export Office and helped develop the EU project CEETEP (Central-Eastern European Talent Exchange Programme). She is also a board member of the European Festival Association (Yourope), a chevalier (knight) of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and an honorary associate professor.
“With great longtime colleagues like Julia Gudzent in booking, Steven Kruijff in production and Jule Kauert in project management, as well as the whole Goodlive team, I think we are absolutely capable of setting new standards in the European festival landscape,” adds Lehmkuhl.
The ticket presale for Superbloom 2021 will open in the coming weeks, with two-day tickets starting at €155 and day tickets from €89.
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German festivals unite to raise money for sector
Festival for Festivals, an online event organised by German music festival platform Höme, will raise money for events by encouraging fans to recreate the festival experience at home and selling wristbands and merchandise.
Events participating in the Festival for Festivals initiative include Superbloom, Das Fest Karlsruhe, Rock of Ages, Maifeld Derby, Sea You Festival and MS Dockville.
From 21 to 23 August, German festival fans around will be encouraged to dig out their camping chairs and pitch their tents to transform their homes and gardens into their favourite festival site, as large-scale events remain outlawed until the end of October.
Festivalgoers will be able to don festival wristbands and t-shirts by purchasing the Festival for Festivals box, with all proceeds going to participating festivals. Priced at €35, the box also contains a Höme magazine, adhesive tattoos, a reusable plastic cup and a festival-scented air freshener.
“We will celebrate our festival landscape together in a virtually connected way”
Fans can choose to support an individual festival from the Festival for Festivals list or donate the money to a joint festival fund. A lucky few will also receive a golden festival wristband in their box, granting free access to all participating festivals next year.
Festival for Festivals is also releasing an app in August, which will feature interactive challenges for festivalgoers to compete in, as well as broadcasts of past festival performances and talks.
“In the past few weeks, we have all felt what we will miss due to the absence of the festival season this year, but we have also seen many – be it festival fans or organisers – sharing their enthusiasm for this huge, diverse festival landscape,” comments Höme co-founder Johannes Jacobi.
“This is where we want to start with the Festival for Festivals, by collecting money to support festivals, initiatives, artists and service providers, but also giving the festival fans a stage – and celebrating our festival landscape together in a virtually connected way.”
Festival boxes can be bought here until 19 July.
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