Review: Summer Festival 2023

Water – pure life

A relaxing break from everyday life – pure living at the Tollwood Summer Festival

People raise their arms in the air, while the person opposite, holding a mobile phone, calls out: ‘A little to the left, arms higher – now it’s perfect.’ The picture with the moon is in the bag. A moment captured at the Tollwood Summer Festival, which attracted 860,000 visitors. Tollwood is continuing its great success from last year. The audience enjoyed relaxed summer days and evenings on the colourful grounds of the Olympic Park.

People strolled among the approximately 160 market stalls, travelling around the world culinarily from Hungary to Tibet, Thailand, Peru and Mexico. They marvelled and laughed in the amphitheatre. And they experienced the opening of the summer festival – with an impressive drone display based on the festival motto ‘Water – pure life’.

The beauty of Tollwood: Friends and families meet here to enjoy a break from everyday life. For everyone – visitors and the Tollwood team alike – it was four peaceful and joyful weeks with a varied programme: around 500 events, 90 percent of which were free of charge. And in the Musik-Arena, more than half of the 30 concerts were sold out.

Evenings at the amphitheatre: People eagerly await the high-wire act by Les Filles du renard pâle. Or they laugh at the comical magic tricks performed by the magician duo Siegfried & Joy. Or they watch as a dancer tames a giant horse in ‘Le Chevâl’ by Cie Paris Bénarès. It is the unusual productions that attract audiences to the open-air theatre and the hill. Because even the seats on the grass were occupied every evening.

The events are embedded in the ‘Market of Ideas’ and the certified organic catering: there are T-shirts with specially designed tree sketches at “Lifetree” – Martin Benedek’s market stall was awarded the title of ‘most beautiful market stall 2023’. Colourful clothes suitable for the warm temperatures, jewellery, cork products – people stroll and browse. And the stallholders are satisfied with this Tollwood Summer Festival. ‘It’s nice to be part of the Tollwood community,’ says Martin Benedek, for example.

Many artists who rocked the Music Arena during the festival also praised this. ‘Thank you, Tollwood,’ they said repeatedly. Roy Bianco & Die Abbrunzati Boys, like Die Fantastischen Vier, sold out the Music Arena twice. Legends Tom Jones and Bonnie Tyler & Chris Norman thrilled the audience, as did Spider Murphy Gang together with Münchener Freiheit. At the concert with Grammy Award winner Jacob Collier, people sang along with beaming faces. When Konstantin Wecker and Reinhard Mey sang ‘Es ist an der Zeit’ by Hannes Wader hand in hand, the collective goose bumps in the Music Arena were palpable. Every evening was different, but there was always one common denominator: the unique atmosphere in the tent. Mathias Schaettgen, responsible for the line-up in the Musik-Arena, sums it up: ‘Visitors simply love the Tollwood Musik-Arena, and the artists were also unanimously enthusiastic about the atmosphere. Concerts at Tollwood are an unforgettable experience – for everyone involved.’ This is also reflected in the comments on social media: ‘Mega, great, fantastic, amazing!’

Calender

Review

These were the events at the Summer Festival 2023