Wiesen On Its Feet Again – For Now

Struggling through the bankruptcy of Wiesen Festivals & Concerts and getting the new Wiesen Events company up and running in time for the summer season, Franz Bogner said the same financial problems will spring up again unless the local authority gives him more money.

Official receiver Dr. Willibald Stampf expects the bankruptcy of Wiesen Festivals to be wrapped within a month, with estimated debts of euro 400,000. But Bogner said he expects the new company could be in trouble by October.

"They give me euro 40,000 to cover the season," he told Pollstar after the latest financial problems failed to convince the local Wiesen council to stump up a bit more.

Bogner, who owns the Festivalgelände site, is critical of the local burghers because they don’t give enough support to a program that brings profile to the sparsely populated rural area.

According to reports in Wiener Zeitung and Der Standard, Wiesen Festivals’ already shaky financial structure was toppled when torrential rain flooded the 9,000-capacity Wiesen site and washed out last year’s Forestglade Festival.

The papers accurately predicted the company’s downside at euro 400,000, leaving the country’s various tax and revenue authorities to pick up 3 percent of what they were owed.

Stampf said there were no significant amounts owed to local suppliers and there were no acts on the creditors’ list.

Turning around Wiesen in time to stage the outdoor season it has run for three decades has involved Uli Hilger of DDG Verantalstungs – who booked the Two Days A Week Festival – also taking over the running and financial responsibility for this year’s event August 30-31.

Hilger is also starting a new State of The Heart Festival June 30, which has a bill that includes the U.K.’s Clinic and The Rifles.

Christian Lakatos of UAF, who booked Urban Art Forms Festival, has reached a similar arrangement to take full responsibility for this year’s gathering August 2-5.

Apart from Bogner ensuring the continuation of long-standing festivals such as Jazzfest Wiesen (July 20-22) and Wiesen Sunsplash (August 24-25), he’ll team with his former Austrian Promoters’ Group colleague Richard Hoermann to co-promote shows for Joe Cocker (July 14th), John Fogerty (July 15th) and Joss Stone (July 17th).