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VIP- News - August 2011Lagerman: No, we definitely had an olderaudience than before.VIP-News: Do you know the average age?Lagerman: Not yet for sure, but there wereprobably more like 24 year olds rather than19 as it used to be. We managed to get thelicense for serving beer all over the infield.In Sweden as you may know It used to bethe situation, that you have to fence areaswhere you can drink your beer. That’s thecase at most festivals in Sweden, and thatis something that maybe is okay whenyou’re 20 – 22, but if you are 26 it sucks.Now we had alcohol served all over the infield,people where not as drunk as it usedto be, no accidents or fighting, whatever. Itwas a very positive atmosphere.VIP-News: So, what is on your agenda for2012?Lagerman: It’s a little bit early to say, butwe will do an even better festival and abigger audience.For further information please check:www.hultsfredsfestivalen.seMelt! A Class Of Its OwnManfred Tari mt@vip-booking.comThe 14th edition of the Melt! Festival reporteda sold out edition with 22.000 visitors.This festival is very special indeed. Locatedin the very far east of Germany theMelt! has become one of the most credibleopen-air pop events in Germany and hasmanaged to attract one third of its audiencefrom abroad.Melt! Is a festival where even veggie andorganic food is no longer an exception.No, at Melt! these kind of visitor friendlyamenities are part of the standard repertoireand among others just another assetto keep its visitors happy.VIP-News spoke with Stefan Lehmkuhlabout the efforts made to ensure the sustainabilityof this in many ways, very differentfestival.Lehmkuhl: Last year we already focusedon the mobility concept for Melt!. Wemaintained this concept featuring train &bus transportation offers and discountedticket prices on Deutsche Bahn. We offerbicycles to hire here, which is very ecofriendlyto get an idea of the region.This year the biggest news in regards ofgreen music, and that is a really greatthing, is that in cooperation with Ferropolisand the solar-industry company Q-Cells,we installed solar-panels on the roofs thatwe have here. So most of the energy weuse here this year is coming from our ownsolar panels, it is sun energy and I thinkthat is a big thing for a festival. That’s notonly for Melt!, that is something that is forall shows that will take place here in the futureon our site.VIP-News: You are also involved in Metropolis,the company that actually takescare of the bookings for the Ferropolis site.What are your plans for the site?Lehmkuhl: We are working on improvingthe amount of events taking place here,this year we had not too many concerts,mainly industry-events, some sportseventsand theatre productions. For nextyear we’re working on improving thenumber of concerts and we will establishsome of our own formats for next year.Some different festival formats for totallydifferent audiences, especially for regionalaudience. So I think next year we will haveabout 6 weekend events from Melt toSplash, some rock festivals, events dedicatedto German Schlager, folk music andmaybe even comedy.VIP-News: Any follow-ups in terms of theconsequences that love-parade caused forthe German live-industry?Lehmkuhl: Yes, officially there is a muchbigger awareness of security-concernshere with Melt! I mean Ferropolis is apretty safe venue anyway as it is built forevents and therefore fulfils high securitystandards. So here at Melt we didn’t havebig knock-on effects from love-parade,but our own awareness to even look intothings and keep a closer eye on the movementsof crowds on each floor. The programof the festival is the most importantthing that helps to steer the movement ofthe crowd on the site.VIP-News: What is different at Melt! 2011compared to previous years?Stefan Lehmkuhl: Not too much, we’vesold out much earlier, about one and ahalf months before, at the end of May.The rest didn’t change too much, we havethe same stage-setup, many more LED-Lights, not only to save more energy, alsoto make it look more stylish and I thinkthe stage-designs are pretty well donethis year.VIP-News: You are setting some remarkablestandards with Melt! when it comesto environmentally friendly concepts foropen air events. How do you proceed withthese kinds of activities?For further information please check:www.meltfestival.deStefan Lemkuhl14VIP-BOOKING.COM