Champagne And Gromperenkichelcher

The organisers of Rock-A-Field festival have responded to complaints about last year’s catering by ensuring this year’s crowd will have copious lashings of champagne and Gromperenkichelcher.

"Last year, as it was the first year, we tried to keep the food service to basics," said festival co-director Patrick Bartz, explaining that his Den Atelier team didn’t want to bite off more than they could chew.

He also explained that Gromperenkichelcher is a local delicacy made from thin potato strips covered in egg yolk and seasoning, which are fried in oil and then eaten with a dressing "like apple jam."

Apart from making sure the catering franchises cover a wider range of dishes to include more vegetarian choices, the organisers are also going to need to order more champagne.

Last year the owner of Den Atelier, the club where Bartz and his colleagues promote shows all year round, suggested it might be a good idea if fans could also choose to have some champagne.

It turned out to be a better idea than anyone expected as it was all gone by 6:30 p.m., with queues of people already lining up for some.

The 2006 festival was hit by flash storms that had hailstones as big as golf balls, but Bartz says better weather will see the event improve on last year’s crowd of 14,000.

It’s a special holiday weekend in Luxembourg as June 23, the day before the festival, is the Grand Duke’s birthday and many people are expected to spend two or three days in the city.

The acts on this year’s bill include The Killers, Queens Of The Stone Age, The Hives, Billy Talent and Art Brut.