Berlin To Take Off At Templehof

Stefan Lehmkuhl and his Melt Festival team believe they can add 50 percent to the Berlin Festival crowd when they move it to the city’s Templehof airport Aug. 6-7.

The two-day Berlin Festival, which at one time had Irish promoter Denis Desmond among its backers, tried various sites in the city but never settled and couldn’t sustain itself on crowds of about 5,000. It didn’t happen at all in 2008.

Lehmkuhl, who runs the successful Melt Festival, two hours south on the Ferropolis site at Gremminger Lake, the LEA-award winning venue of 2006, is hoping bigger crowds will come from the move to what’s often known as Hitler’s favourite airfield and a booking policy similar to the one he’s employed at Melt.

He’s working with local partner Cornelius Opper, the only remaining member of the old Berlin Festival team.

“I think it can do 10,000 tickets, which will be a mix of weekend tickets and day tickets. It should work out at about 7,500 on site each day”, he explained, weighing up a line-up that includes Deichkind, Pete Doherty, Jarvis Cocker, Dendemann, José González, Saint Etienne, and The Rifles.