Stuart WoodSemmel Concerts, a German promoter, says it will be the first in Germany to stage concerts again once they are allowed to resume in September.
The promoter is hosting a series of open-air concerts at the Waldbühne in Berlin, featuring popular German artists including Roland Kaiser, Wincent Weiss and Sido. The first of these shows will take place on 4 September, with more scheduled for the following weeks.
The shows will be run with social distancing in place, but have capacity for 5,000 people. All tickets are seated tickets, and the venue is complying with hygiene regulations to ensure maximum protection against spreading Covid-19.
CEO Dieter Semmelmann commented: “We want to send out a signal for the highly-desired restart of major live-events! Economically this will be a major accomplishment for everybody involved but of course this is not a model for the future. But we want to realize concerts for a large audience again and show that live concerts belong to the most beautiful cultural experiences and are in fact systemically relevant.”
Germany banned all major events until 31 August back in mid-April, one of the first European countries to do so.
On 17 June, Chancellor Angela Merkel extended that ban on events to the end of October – but stipulated that events which could follow hygiene protocols would be allowed to go ahead.