One last dance - Last Melt Festival starts - cost pressure too high
Since 1997, the Melt-Festival has been taking place at the Ferropolis-Site in Graefenhainichen - it starts on Thursday and this is the last edition. "The costs for us as organizers have been increasing enormously in recent years," Festival Director Florian Czok told the German Press Agency. Compared to other festivals of this kind, the income from sponsoring is also low. "That's why it has been a challenge to write black numbers for a long time," Czok added. At the end of May, the festival organizers announced that this would be the last Melt in this summer.
The festival has been taking place since 1999 on the former brown coal mining site near Dessau-Roßlau with its retired excavators serving as a backdrop. In memory of the past decades, the Sleepless Floor is expected to be part of the event again this year. The last Melt lasts until Saturday. On the stages, DJ Koze, Cobrah, Ellen Allien, Paula Hartmann, the Sugababes, Supergloss, and Laura Vargas are expected to perform.
The concept of the festival has been changed under Czok's leadership in the past. "Moving away from the mindset of headliners towards a broader approach, because we realized that we were no longer really competitive with other festivals in Europe," described the festival director, who is looking forward to an emotional weekend.
Work has also been done on the cost structure in the past, and Czok said, "It's no longer possible for less to really work. It's also not possible to organize a smaller, less cost-intensive version of Melt in the future."
Similar developments are also taking place in other countries. The younger generation buys fewer tickets but wants more comfort. "City festivals have it easier now because people can go home or to a hotel instead of camping."
However, Germany needs festivals like Melt, Czok emphasized. "Otherwise, the market will become monotonous." Together with his team, he is therefore already working on new concepts. "We don't know yet what that will look like in the end. But we won't stand still."
- Due to the significant cost pressure experienced in recent years, the German Press Agency reported that Festival Director Florian Czok announced this would be the last Melt-Festival at Ferropolis-Site in Gräfenhainichen, Saxony-Anhalt.
- Despite the cost pressure, the last Melt-Festival in Saxony-Anhalt's Dessau-Roßlau area will still feature DJ Koze, Cobrah, Ellen Allien, and other popular artists on various stages, offering leisure time activities and music performances for festivalgoers.
- Czok mentioned that the cost structure of the Melt-Festival has been reconsidered, stating, "It's no longer possible for less to really work," and indicating that a smaller, less cost-intensive version of the festival is unlikely in the future.
- Amidst these changes, Czok highlighted the importance of events like Melt-Festival, stating, "Germany needs festivals like Melt to avoid market monotony," and also mentioned his team's efforts to develop new concepts.
- As other countries, such as Germany, have observed younger audiences buying fewer tickets but expecting more comfort, city festivals offering alternative accommodations like hotels, are deemed to have an edge over outdoor events like Melt-Festival.
