Events in the Rheinaue Kunstrasen concerts to take place in 2021

Bonn · Despite the uncertainties for cultural events, Kunstrasen GmbH is planning numerous open air events this summer in the Rheinaue in Bonn. However, the organiser has the vagaries of the pandemic in mind.

 Numerous fans who already have a ticket hope to see Sting perform this summer.

Numerous fans who already have a ticket hope to see Sting perform this summer.

Foto: dpa/Henning Kaiser

Even though it is not yet certain when or if cultural events can start again, Kunstrasen GmbH is planning the 2021 season. Big names are on the program. For example Sting, who after two cancellations now finally wants to play for the Bonners. Since the old tickets are still valid, the concert is already sold out. But that does not apply to other artists such as Katie Melua, Nena, Sarah Connor, Lea, Jan Delay and Toto.

The Kunstrasen team is now submitting a building application to the Building Regulations Office for the summer. "We are initially planning the season for the entire period from the end of June to mid-August this year, although we don't know when cultural events will even be permitted again or what restrictions we will face," says Managing Director Katrin Weinreis. So the 2020 performances were almost all postponed to this year, with others added.

The Kunstrasen in the shadow of the Post Tower, with a capacity of up to 10,000 visitors, had already sold out some concerts before the outbreak of the pandemic and had many events on offer with well over 5,000 tickets sold. "These events cannot be held with spacing rules," Weinreis said. Some of the international stars are playing Bonn as part of a major tour that takes in several countries and continents. "This circumstance massively complicates the planning, because if individual concerts are cancelled, the entire tour planning can be in jeopardy, and the Kunstrasen can also only cover its costs if a certain number of concerts with corresponding audiences are guaranteed," says Ernst Ludwig Hartz, who is largely responsible for the concert program with his ELH Promotion GmbH.

With all imponderables the organizer plans alternatively also with a shortened season in August, whereby then some concerts from June and July would have to be shifted on to this month. In the case of some artists, it is already assumed that they would then not perform until 2022. So there may still be some changes to the current plan.

In 2020, the Kunstrasen could not take place in the ninth year of its existence, because all concerts were planned on a scale that requires a correspondingly high technical effort and corresponding capacity. "We believe that concerts require a certain atmosphere and a technical standard. We owe this to the performing artists and our customers, the visitors," says Nötzel. He speaks out against "cut-down cheap productions." In total, he said, there are currently already more than 80,000 ticket holders after the cancellations. He hopes they can be redeemed this concert summer.

(Original text: Richard Bongartz, Translation: Mareike Graepel)

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