Bonnlive Kulturgarten First concerts kick off in the Rheinaue this weekend
Bonn · Not only with noise but with a beer garden atmosphere, the Bonnlive organisers want to impress at the Kulturgarten concerts in the Rheinaue. The gigs will start this weekend, yet the stage is still under construction.
Despite the Corona crisis, the Rheinaue will be developed into a concert area by the weekend: For the time being, Nena, Brings and Culcha Candela, but also the Young Theater Bonn will perform in the Kulturgarten until the end of August. The area around the flower meadow has already been cordoned off for this. Unlike usual, there will be no loud concert sound system, but "rather a beer garden character", as co-organiser Julian Reininger says.
Currently the helpers are setting up the stage in the Rheinaue. "It's bigger than the one we had at the car concerts at Westwerk," Reininger explains. His event agency Fünfdrei and Rheinevents had set up concerts there for several weeks that could only be attended in cars. Even though both kind of events run under the Bonnlive brand, there are differences - apart from the decoration and the team. At the car concerts the music was played over the radio, in the Rheinaue it will be from loudspeakers. "They are not as big as usual, but smaller and distributed around the grounds," says Reininger.
The visitors sit on beer benches, use couches or separate meadow plots as picnic areas. "It won't be so loud, you shouldn't have to shout at each other to talk." Nevertheless, the lighting and sound systems have been upgraded. Despite the picnic atmosphere, visitors are not allowed to bring their own food and drinks. "There is a catering service of the Rheinaue Park Restaurant, which serves the visitors at their seats at the usual restaurant prices. This income is important for us," says Reininger.
The entire site is designed for almost 2000 visitors, which is why a hygiene concept had to be set up. For example, one has to wear a face mask when moving around the area. So that nobody gets in each other's way, a one-way street regulation applies on all paths. The organisers want to avoid crowds of people or long queues by using control personnel and floor markings. "Whether everything works as we expect it to, we will know after the first events and if necessary we will make improvements", says Reininger. In order to prevent people from gathering outside the grounds to watch the concerts, additional construction fences will be erected in some places.
So far, ticket sales have been "averagely good". The first concerts of Bukahara (July 16) and Brings (July 17) will boost sales again, according to Reininger's assessment. "Then people will know what to expect." Only the weather can still put a damper on the gigs. "In that case we will distribute rain capes for free."
For now the program runs until the end of August. But Fünfdrei and Rheinevents reserve the right to extend it. "The car concerts were originally planned to last only a month, but then they became one and a half. Until a few weeks ago, we didn't know ourselves that we were going to the Rheinaue," says Reininger.
(Original text: Nicolas Ottersbach / Translation: Mareike Graepel)
