- Alpine dress instead of crucifixion <unk> Home sound in Oberammergau
Where else would Jesus be crucified, the alpine music scene is rocking since Friday. At the Passion Theater Oberammergau, artists and bands from the German-speaking Alpine region are performing until Saturday at the HeimatSound Festival.
Music spanning styles from rock through brass, hip-hop, and punk to Alpine folk music has been attracting fans to the village of woodcarvers for over a decade.
Not a Genre Festival
The festival was nearly sold out for the day, according to organizers, despite the program not being announced yet in November. "That's what the audience is like – people are interested in everything," says co-organizer Frederik Mayet. "We're not a genre festival."
This year's lineup ranges from My Ugly Clementine from Salzburg with indie-rock, to Dreiviertelblut and Maxi Pongratz (formerly Kofelgschroa) with new folk music, to Josh ("Cordula Green"). Also performing are Shantel & Bucovina Club Soundsystem, Mola, Salò, and newcomer bands like Falschgeld, who kicked off the festival on Friday.
Regulars
Camping and hanging out are part of the festival experience. "We're regulars," said guests – many have been there since the beginning. Eleven years ago, the venerable Passion Theater was first the venue for the music festival. Legendary Bavarian musicians like Georg Ringsgwandl, Hans Soellner, Austrian bands like Attwenger, local favorites like Kofelgschroa, the brass band Moop Mama, and the Bananafishbones drew the crowds.
Every ten years, the Oberammergauer put on the Passion on the outdoor stage. The director and intendant of the Munich Volkstheater, Christian Stueckl, broke the ten-year rhythm for the first time and brought the Oberammergauer to the festival stage outside of the Passion. In 2013, he was one of the founders of the festival.
There was some skepticism in the town at the time. After all, the Passion Theater, following a centuries-old tradition, is where the village fulfills its plague vow every ten years; almost half of the locals participate. In 1634, the plague was raging; the Oberammergauer vowed to perform the suffering and death of Christ every ten years if no one else died from the plague. Over 400,000 visitors came to the Passion in 2022 – soon the town will prepare for the Passion in 2030.
This year's festival is not limited to a specific genre, as co-organizer Frederik Mayet mentioned. The HeimatSound Festival, ongoing at the Passion Theater Oberammergau, attracts a diverse audience, eager to enjoy various music styles, such as indie-rock, folk, and electronic music.
