The environmental organisation BUND had taken legal action against the five concerts planned for June and July. On Tuesday last week, the Cologne Administrative Court ruled that the district had to "temporarily prohibit" the concerts. The reason was that the island was located in a protected landscape area. The court went on to say that the district would have to consider a case-by-case permit for the concerts.

According to the district administration, the permit now granted - as required by the court - deals in detail with the consequences of the concerts. Since the organiser fulfilled numerous requirements, no significant adverse effects on the island are to be expected, according to the district administration. For example, all three concerts ended at 10 p.m., there will be no "light show" and special preventive measures have been set to protect the bats and birds on the island. "We are thus following the guidelines of the administrative court in its recent decision that without such a permit the events would not be permitted," explained District Administrator Sebastian Schuster.

The three concerts could be approved as a package because of the uniform stage and seating arrangements. "I hope that BUND will refrain from further submissions and no longer want to prevent the concerts on the park-like grounds inside the island," Schuster said. "I am convinced that nature will not suffer any damage from these events," said the district administrator. For the two other planned concerts in July with Zaz and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, renewed case-by-case reviews will take place as soon as they are applied for.

Now that permission has been granted, concert organiser Ernst Ludwig Hartz is full of anticipation as he approaches the days before the first concert on Saturday. "I am very happy about this decision and also expected that the permit would be granted. Now we are looking forward to the beautiful weekend." Hartz assumes that the two concerts in July can also be approved by the district as Lower Nature Conservation Authority. He will still submit corresponding individual applications, the concert organiser, who is based in Bonn but operates far beyond the region, announced. "The island is simply convincing as a performance venue. Joan Baez was very happy in 2019 and Patti Smith also accepted our request directly.“

Although the advance sales, which had been going well so far, had stalled a little after the Cologne Administrative Court's ruling, now that there is certainty, Hartz said, the Grafenwerth concerts will enjoy a great response. "We are lucky to have such a venue available and we hope to have it available for many years to come.“

Achim Baumgartner, spokesman for the Rhine-Sieg district group of the German branch of Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND), was disappointed by the permits issued by the Rhine-Sieg district when asked by the GA. His association continues to claim a "serious disregard of the formal basic requirements for the use and design of the island". The arguments of the district administration for the approval are not comprehensible to him. Baumgartner said he could not yet say how the environmental association would now deal with the notices issued. BUND will "take a calm look at the notices" and then decide on further steps, possibly including legal ones.

The city of Bad Honnef, on the other hand, welcomed the result of the Rhein-Sieg district's review. Now that the necessary exemption has been granted the organiser can hold his concerts on the designated area on the island of Grafenwerth. "This is a great and also an important signal for the people of Bad Honnef and the region: after two years of cultural break due to the pandemic, people will finally get the opportunity to experience first-class live music by national and international artists on their island Grafenwerth again," explained Mayor Otto Neuhoff (non-party). "The anticipation for the concerts and also for the island experience in front of a unique natural backdrop is unbroken among the artists and also among the people of the region," said the head of administration.