First the good news: “There will be Open-Air concerts in Bonn next year”. A concrete statement from Bernhard Spies, Business Manager of the Bundeskunsthalle who own the land where Bonn’s internationally famous and unique ‘Concert Tent’ stands. Not so good though in his announcement was the line: “however, after that we have no idea who will take over the concerts or what form they will take”.
Seemingly then it’s something of a ‘holding position’ borne simply out of the fact that promoters are booking bands now for next Summer. It would be of little use to have a budget and an organizer if there were no spaces left on calendars for bookings to take place. That the location is highly regarded in the music business is underlined by Concert Promoter Ernst-Ludwig Hartz who says that enquiries are already flowing in for appearances next year. As Hartz points out in the General Anzeiger though “The City is still undecided about exactly where the concerts will take place. Whilst the promoters want a contractual verification, The Kunst & Ausstellungshalle act as if it is no concern of theirs and are interested only in ridding themselves of what seems to them a nuisance”.
Whatever the interests of the parties involved, final decisions will have to be made soon. Booking acts for an uncertain location is clearly not tenable.
The Museumsplatz is a unique location that is reachable easily by public transport, has excellent refreshment facilities, is of a size that attracts World Class acts but allows you to see them up close. It is a venue where you will find all age groups and income brackets united by one thing – a love of live music at its best. It is also very likely to disappear if people put heads in sand and leave it to politics and local budgets.
The local Bonn newspaper ‘General Anzeiger’ has a blog running that awaits comments – if you’ve ever been to a Museumsplatz concert I hope you will add your view there.
(don’t worry about commenting in English if you have to – maybe that will show how much the concerts are internationally appreciated!)
To give your opinion to the General Anzeiger Online Blog, click HERE
Otherwise you may have visited your last Open Air Museumsplatz Bonn Show!
A packed audience for the Zaz concert this year
