LN Switzerland Takes Over Frauenfeld

Open Air Frauenfeld festival founder and president Wolfgang Sahli, chairman of First Event AG, has sold his majority stake to Live Nation.  festival founder and president Wolfgang Sahli, chairman of First Event AG, has sold his majority stake to Live Nation.  

Frauenfeld Links With LN
 – Frauenfeld Links With LN
Matt Schwarz (Live Nation GSA), Ralph Schuler (Live Nation Switzerland), Wolfgang Sahli (Open Air Frauenfeld), Andre Lieberberg (Live Nation GSA), René Goetz (Open Air Frauenfeld).

He will remain on board alongside First Event MD Rene Götz to continue to produce the event. Open Air Frauenfeld, which was founded in 1985, is one of Switzerland’s largest festivals.

This year, July 6-8, some 50,000 visitors per day witnessed The Weeknd, Usher & The Roots, Nas, Travis Scott and others on the Allmend in the city of Frauenfeld.

André Lieberberg, president of Live Nation GSA, said: “We are incredibly proud and excited to partner with Open Air Frauenfeld, which sees us add one of the world’s finest festival brands to our portfolio. The partnership will give media and our brand partners a unique platform for the Swiss and German speaking markets.”

Sahli said, “We believe joining forces with the world’s leading live entertainment company, Live Nation, has given us a strong and innovative partner with which to continue to grow and evolve Open Air Frauenfeld. We are truly looking forward to our partnership.”

Sahli told Switzerland’s Sonntagszeitung that he doubted all Swiss festivals would survive the future, given the fact that expenditures regarding security and environmental protection have increased continually. O

Openair St.Gallen’s Christoph Huber told the newspaper that independent promoters couldn’t compete with the financial means of large corporations, and criticized that international promoters like Live Nation had driven up ticket prices and well-known artists’ fees. Lieberberg told the paper that Live Nation could see it taking stakes in other Swiss festivals, but added that no concrete talks were taking place at the moment.

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