survey
Would you go to open air this summer?
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But with the upcoming open airs, hardly any organizer wants to say whether his festival will take place this summer or not. For example, the team from Open Airs St. Gallen, which is planned for the end of June, is continuing to prepare for the festival, as spokeswoman Nora Fuchs says to 20 Minuten. But you still need time before you can make specific statements about summer.
At the Open Air Frauenfeld a month ago it was said on Twitter the festival will take place 100 percent. There has been no update since – the festival date is July 9th to 11th. Spokesman Joachim Bodmer recently said yes SRF, a cancellation would result in a loss of CHF 3 to 5 million.
The organizers are waiting for the decision of the Federal Council, which should come at the end of the week. “It is clear to everyone that you can no longer wait,” says Daniel Fontana of Bad Bonn Kilbi, which is due to start on June 4. Therefore, it must now be decided whether the ban on events is extended into the summer.
If the federal government issues this instruction, the organizers can rely on force majeure and can withdraw from many contracts without damage. “Then we don’t have to pay the artists booked,” explains Andy Hartmann from the organizing committee of the Quellrock Open Airs.
The call for force majeure is existential for the organizer – he cannot afford to pay these costs without running the festival: “It would break our necks.” The open air is not insured against such a failure.
It is similar with the Zurich Openair: “We are insured against a lot of things, but not against a pandemic,” says Rolf Ronner, head of the Zurich Openair, about 20 minutes. What damage is impending if the festival is not allowed to take place at the end of August, but he cannot currently quantify it. The website of the Gurten Festival also says that it is not possible for the organizer to take out insurance against a pandemic. Insurers would not offer such a product.
Many organizers believe that the federal government will ban the upcoming festivals. “I strongly believe that there will be no major events until well into the summer,” says scene expert Max Reichen, Managing Director of the Bar and Club Commission Bern, about 20 minutes.
If this is not the case, the organizers will face further complications, as Hartmann says: “If we can do the open air, but people are afraid to come because of the pandemic, that would also be a problem.”
The coronavirus crisis could still make waves until next year: An American health specialist even assumes that the first festivals will not take place until autumn 2021 at the earliest NME reported.
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