The ambassadors to Germany from 10 former Soviet states have written to the mayor of Berlin asking that Lollapalooza Berlin not be allowed to go ahead in the city’s Treptower Park this September. In the letter, seen by the Berliner Kurier, diplomats from Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and seven former members of the USSR claim that holding the festival in the 100,000sqm park – which is also home to a war memorial commemorating 5,000 of the 80,000 soldiers of the Soviet empire who died in the Battle of Berlin in 1945 – is “inappropriate, unacceptable and disturbing for the honour and memory of the deceased”. Regional mayor Oliver Igel, Berlin mayor Michael Müller and senator of the interior Frank Henkel, say the memorial is far enough away that it will be secure from festival goers.
The deserted Berlin Tempelhof Airport site – the location of last year’s European Festival Award-winning Lollapalooza Berlin – will be used to house refugees “no later than the end of 2019”, reports the Berliner Kurier. This means the 45,000 capacity Lollapalooza Berlin, organised by Hörstmann Unternehmensgruppe/Melt! Booking and promoted by Festival Republic and C3 Presents, will now be looking for a new site elsewhere in the German capital. A spokesman for the festival told IQ that the festival will take place “somewhere else in the centre of Berlin”.
The 2016 festival is due to take place on 10 and 11 September.
