Haldern Pop Festival 2008

News Festival
Line Up Tickets Infos & FAQ History Philosophy

Line Up Tickets Infos & FAQ History Philosophy

Festival / History / Complete story

2002

and on we go, or rather on we went. We've never been in the superlatives league, making overblown promises, which is part of the trick. Everybody goes home with his or her own individual highlights, their own personal festival.

There's something special about gathering together an audience with such a sense of understatement and see it blossom into such appreciation, seeing the musicians as fulfilled as the crowd and vice versa.

We have been glad to learn of hearts warmed amongst the overseas media who have made the trip to Haldern from Sweden, Austria, Belgium, Holland, England, Italy and beyond. They too returned home with a personal insight into how a small idea grew into something bigger, how musical short stories from near and far have created a European narrative.

There were those who feared that the overwhelmingly positive reactions amongst the press at home and abroad would lead to our little oasis on the Lower Rhine succumbing to commercial sell-out and ultimately disappear amongst the oak trees. Its a popular misconception that success automatically means growth and that the idea behind it all gets left somewhere along the way.

Its true to say that our festival has won more and more friends, but the focus has remained firmly on the music. The size of the crowd has reached a comfortable maximum which we don't intend to increase and we'll concentrate solely on improving the quality on offer, untempted as we are by the thought of expansion.

Haldern 2002 was proof enough that we've followed the right course in terms of choosing a line-up barely influenced by ongoing trends. "Speed is slowly getting on our nerves" we said, "Respect your leisure". Taking time to look at the role of the individual and the resonating collective experience resulting from our indifference to transience.

A theory and the whole secret

It was established that the harmony and aesthetic of the Freiburg Münster corresponded exactly to the "Golden Section". Drawn from ergonomics, the "Golden Section" represents the perfect proportional relationship in form and dimension.

This methodology goes back as far as the Ancient Greeks and was equally followed by Dürer and Da Vinci, independently of one another, an aesthetic formula of natural beauty.

If we transpose this idea from art into everyday life and how communities interact, it becomes apparent that individual capabilities are not of fixed measure, it is much more a case of a greater whole dependent on the relationships of the people involved. Being a part of the whole and respecting the spezial nature of those around one lead to the successful formula of projects which really work.

Concepts are theoretical and only come to life when a proportional harmony with one another recognizes a common goal as the basic principle.

By altobelli

Its the musicians who are at the root of this annual pilgrimage to the Lower Rhine, but behind the scenes are the 130 organisers who actually make it happen. Its a sociological masterstoke all of its own, how this team gels to promote and execute our festival ideal, there's no contractual basis, but there is a strong vision we share.

One could, in this day and age, refer to them as 130 "minorities" or "individualists" and recognise their collective motivation as the greatest treasure we have unearthed over the past nineteen years.

Everything comes back to basics, starts with an idea, a question mark, shaping a perspective. In essence, the festival begins with a review of what's gone before and defining what's to come in the future.

Its very much an organic - and complex - process, with the success hidden in detail not necessarily visible to the naked eye.

So we spend a lot of time discussing more than just the music. There is an internal passion for the festival which nicely balances the external enthusiasm.

And yet the internal cosmos is particularly sensitive, a zone with no currency of its own, where thinking 100% is as dangerous as evaluating the individuals therein, i.e. there is a fine thread holding together local and overall interests.

A fascinating theme, albeit endless, and a permanent element of the "happening" in its complete form. Year in, year out, we try to reveal or unravel another part of it.

The place itself plays a crucial role in proceedings, reflecting the sense of community as a springboard for action. As we developed the Haldern 2002 advert, we wanted to depict an everyday scenario. With "patience" as our motto, Frau Balkenburg prepares fried potatoes to the sound of Stephan Eicher's music.

No more and no less, no snappy cuts or populist iconography. Just fried potatoes. The urge to compete can victimise time and space, true value gets overlooked. Cleverness as a measure of getting on. A fry-up on our plate and vitamins take flight.

Our slogan for 2002:

The satisfaction of small pleasures.

Little moments of pleasure tend to pop up when we take the time to notice them.

Plant a potato, water it, tend to it until it is ready to be harvested, cook it and everyone gets to taste the result.

People with no time tear open a bag and throw the contents into the chip frying pan, stuffing them down in a hurry.

Short term views are not necessarily linked to used up populist spontaneity.

Long term concepts contain a tangible sense of progression with a suitable finale.

If I steal a piano I can't offset it against tax, whereas if I earn it, I am consumed by a certain development from the birth of the idea to the possession of the instrument.

Hence we believe in the process as a whole, from the original decision or idea up to the realisation of a goal.

It is not always easy to write about satisfaction and pleasure without restricting oneself to the obvious. No doubt one will also experience satisfaction and pleasure in this sense as well, but one should never lose sight of the piano or the potato.

Quality is inextricably linked to time. Haldern does not just want your money, we also want your time, your attention. It is largely owing to you that more and more musicians are interested in our festival, as you take time for them.

We strive to offer a forum for good music and a pure quality of life and hope to have a positive surprise or two up our sleeves again this year.

Thank you.

Fast is slowly getting on my nerves

By altobelli

The festival was sold out ten days before it began. And that without the "Big Names". Oh how glad we were, to see our faith in good music repayed without recourse to mass media pressure which allows less and less space for smaller, more beautiful bands. We were never unsettled by the likes of "who's ever heard of...", on the contrary, remarks of that ilk spurred us on even more.

Artists such as Joseph Arthur, Mull Historical Society or Savoy Grand and Millionaire dumbfounded their audience and offered their thanks in the form of passion and fire.

Millionaire, having unfortunately arrived late in the night, went on to play...late in the night. Diplomatic sleight of hand and a crate or two of chilled Diebels beer got the overtired stage crew back on track, whilst the newcomers Fairfield, booked for the Terratec Talent Truck, filled the gap on the main stage until the Belgians finally got there. The group from Rhede took their overtime in their stride, we'll surely be hearing from them again. The Shining, from Great Britain, took a while to get their vocal chords played in, but went on from strength to strength. Curiosity on the crowd's part was met with nervousness from the two ex-Verve players, but they got there in the end.

Saybia, 5 great Danes, didnt leave a dry eye in the house (well, field). Excellent singer, a band in the groove, heartrending pop songs. A top performance, better suited here than in Moers. Beauty may be simple but its not always simple to convey beauty.

The Electric Soft Parade count as one of England's great hopes and they did their reputation proud ont the old riding grounds. A classic team of two brothers, playing with and off each other. Ian Brown - probably managed to divide opinion more than anybody else at the festival. We had to wrestle an axe away from him as he set about chopping firewood - in the interests of his own safety - before he went on stage. The former Stone Roses front man tested us to the extreme with his on the edge vocals, His multi-cultural band were brilliant. He's in a class of his own. Thank goodness.

Cheeky chappies Supergrass provided refreshment in the best possible sense, superbly energetic and the icing on the cake of day one's rock'n'roll finale, pop to get you dancing, rock to get you rolling. By way of contrast, Sigur Rós replacements Savoy Grand restored peace and quiet to the agenda, slinking onto the stage to deliver carefully chosen, wonderful tones, mixed with silence and light. Langleys voice rose above the floating sound, only the trumpet could get close. Like a favourite blanket, leather jackets and wooly hats, ponytails and punky spikes snuggled under the lightness and joy of their unforgettable set. Savoy Grand.

Our 2002 t-shirt commented on the Icelandic absentees: "Sigur Out - Savoy Grand in." and left it at that. As far as Sigur Rós go, their second cancellation in two years hurt but the quality of their music remains untouched. We'd still be happy to have them at our festival, but we won't announce them any more. As we said earlier, the hungry Millionaires stormed the stage in the early hours of the morning so their traffic jam hours were not in vain. And we wanted them to play. For the five Belgians this was their first gig in Germany, and therefore their best. Sharp-witted and well worth the wait.

After a short night and lots of goals, the coffee machines starting pumping overtime and those who could, unravelled themselves out of their sleeping bags. Work to be done. Guitars to be tuned. Toilets to be drained. No getting away from such images over this long weekend.

The goalposts beckon and the Brits prove once again that football is important. If a little complex. Just landed, the Mull Historical Society burst onto the pitch and chase the ball with infant school enthusiasm.

The Cooper Temple Clause head for the beer and Gomez match them for sport. Joseph Arthur dumps his rucksack and joins in the close combat with football. Its a team game, actually, Mr Arthur, but don't let that bother you. He can't take his eyes off the ball until his tour manager drags him stagewards. Tap into the child in man and the results are unbeatable.

Characters with oily hair and oversize glasses get through the eye of the needle, squeeze onto trestle tables and imagine themselves to go unnoticed. They're on the blag. Some nerve. Belonging is as important to them as the free beer. And then back home to mama.

Leaves, an Icelandic foursome with a fantastic singer, are a genuine new discovery on the freshly swept floorboards. Mull Historical Society swap ball for instruments and continue in playful mood. They may have lost the match but they win the show. First Scottish highlight on Saturday, utterly convincing, great melodies. Gemma Hayes had to cancel for personal, family reasons, opening the door a little earlier on Joseph Arthur. Armed only with guitar and DAT recorder, he proved to be an absolute virtuoso, 40 minutes on another level. Having to stop playing must be the worst thing in the world for him, no doubt it was this free as a bird attitude - with limited tools - which impressed Peter Gabriel so much when he spotted Arthur in a New York club.

The Cooper Temple Clause, the Englishmen who pull their own pints, tell their own rock'n'roll story with power and their own musical vocabulary. Full on and fragile. Right on the button. Islands of melody in heavy seas of feedback and distorted bass. A warm rain storm for thirsty souls.

A Belgian quintet steps up next, the semi-acoustic Zita Swoon, one of the great underrated bands, particularly on these shores. Their songs are so brilliantly varied and classy, they are something special to us at Haldern. und ihre Lieder zeugen von großer Klasse und Vielfalt. Weird and wondrous compositions are the passion of dEUS' ex singer and bass player. What harmonies, intense and yet fleet of foot, somewhere between pop and avantgarde, odd-looking and a little glam, straight outta Antwerp. Their records never fail to make us happy and their live shows are the benchmark everyone should be aiming for. Gomez had to leave some of their musical jewels in the box, there wasn't time to unpack the lot, but their spectacular enthusiasm was infectious. Technically magnificent and perfectly in tune with one another, they had such fun you could almost see them back in the sandpit, such was their carefree nature. For some too much, for others the surprise turn of the festival. A great concert and lovely people, band and crew alike.

Here they come, the Glaswegian collective, Belle & Sebastian, booked on a handshake in Groningen back in January. Too many instruments to count, their luscious fruit bowl of pop works wonders on a respectfully attentive audience, harmony in my head. You might be forgiven for thinking they'd been practising for weeks for the grammar school end of term show, their fragility is celebrated here and now, worlds away from the harsh, brash planet we usually live in. The field transforms itself into one big picnic garden of uncomplicated happiness. "Naive" cries the cynic, smiling at the happy faces in front of him.

The stage needs reorganising for Notwist, cables and wires get unplugged and plugged, part of the band arrives by train. "Neon Golden" will be presented tonight, featuring almost everybody who performed on the album, only the Polish trombone doesn't make it.

Green light, ready to go. Rumblings and bleeps align in rhythm, a web of classic Weilheim's recent history. Whispering vocals creep up on the stormy cascades of noise, open-ended songs born of improvisation. One cannot divide the show up into songs, it is far more a collective body of work overflowing with energy. Wonderful melody and drama, sponaneity switches from uncertainty to clarity. The poor band / road / stage manager dissolves in panic and they all head for France.

You could not wish for a better band to wind up the weekend's theatre than Doves. Its way past midnight when they crack the whip and ride off into the moonlight with such exuberance, a little cocky, totally in their element. Their songs are a little off centre and the singer a little shaky to begin with but their effervescent power turns into a finale of religious dimensions, bathed in beautiful light. "The Last Broadcast"was one of the great albums of 2002 and how we had looked forward to hearing it live. Doves were the fitting footnote to a top weekend of pop music, the festivalgoers completely forgetting their fatigue so late in the night.

Eins Live recorded the festival for transmission throughout the EBU (European Broadcasting Union).

One small meadow and so many listeners.

Supergrass could be heard in interviews singing the praises of the festival vibe and had simply enjoyed playing football.

On the first day of the festival, we finally made it into the news bulletins on the radio as the traffic ground to a halt on the country lanes around the site. Everything had pretty much gone according to plan and the riding grounds were fit to ride on again just a week later.

On Wednesday 14th August, we set up stall in Cologne's Stadtgarten for a "Haldern in Cologne" night on the eve of the Popkomm, presenting The Libertines Germany premiere, along with Ikara Colt and British Seapower, three acts with a real future. There may not be any money to be made with brand new acts, but they remind us why we do what we do in the first place.

As we said, the press reaction was excellent. The SZ (Southern Germany daily newspaper) devoted a whole page to the festival, highlighting the "renaissance of attention to detail" and the future in small things. They also paid tribute to the audience, which has become a common thread in the music media, the Haldern crowd is what makes the place so special. We won't argue with that, but nor will we let it become some kind of marketing trademark. Its our little festival and nothing more, nothing less.

There is a strategy of sorts, since we do have a tangible aim. Telling stories from our weekend might make that a little easier to see. Transparency, that is.

Enough.

raum 3

Eighteen Years of Haldern Open Air Festival on the Lower Rhine

This is the story of a beautiful idea and how it came about.

As the ministers of Haldern began their search for a plug socket without a roof, back in 1981, little did they know that, ten years, later Bob Geldof would be asking for herbal tea to regenerate his voice on the very same spot.

But that came much later.

First of all there were the 14 .. and their two .. who, having found an open-air plug socket, and therefore in good spirits, set about having a party. Canned music and improvisations turned the evening into a success.

1982 and 83 saw further refinements to the party and over 1500 people made their way to the old stables at Haldern. Word had spread, the location was known and the logical next step was indeed that bands should come and play.

This meant, however, that more organisers and more money would be required. Thus the idea of a "shares issue" was born. Potential investors met in the "raum 3" for the inaugural session.

Each interested party was able to buy shares for DM 500 and thereby give his or her consent to taking an active part in the set-up. Around 54 "shareholders" made up the initial team who organised the original Haldern Open Air festival, which took place on Saturday the 23rd June 1984 at the old riding stables.

The Chameleons and Nightwing from England along with Herne 3 were the first bands to make their way to the provinces of the Lower Rhine. The "shareholders" did their bit in helping with preparations and thereby keeping costs down. The carpenter was able to build the first stage out of the roof of a specially torn down house in the village (belonging to some friend, brother in law, his brother or niece or something like that. Thus things got done at little or no cost. In organisational terms, we were now entering new territory, having previously only put on local bands like Dea Minos and Stuff (who had the advantage of speaking German) in the youth club. Still, anything's possible, we thought, and so it turned out to be.

It was a brilliant festival, although financially speaking we'd have been better off sticking to canned music. Each shareholder lost roughly DM130 but now had the proud tag of "festival organiser". You can't get insurance for pop music, you just have to enjoy it! So we decided in favour of enjoyment and headed down the economically rocky road to live music.

Abysmal weather the following year ripped even deeper holes in our pockets.The line-up featured The Radio, Frantics, 42nd Street and Grobschnitt, the last of whom suggested on arrival it would make more sense in view of the weather not to unload their gear and spend a more comfortable time watching television, avoiding unnecessary expenditure. In actual fact, they were somewhat unsettled by the possibility that they were no longer in Europe, but somewhere out on the oceans..lengthy discussions and an improvement in the weather did actually coax them on stage.

We were so proud to have gone through with it, we steamed full on into 1986 and a financial debacle. Bad weather and unknown bands pushed us to the brink of financial ruin. Musically speaking the festival was a bomb (in the positive sense) with The Radio, N'DAGA and especially Midnite Fun giving us an unforgettable show.

Light appeared at the end of the tunnel in 1987. Extrabreit, The Affair, The Trash and Midnite Run saw us take in more than we spent for the first time!

And the weather was good.

The festival's reputation began to spread amongst artists and the chances of attracting bands on our wish list increased, bands such as Element Of Crime.

Plan B - still completely unknown and without a record deal at that point - played for expenses and The Name from England didn't exactly demand a huge fee. 1988 was a breakthrough in artistic terms, as other promoters and artists began to sit up and take note of us - and showed a willingness to cooperate, as we'd got in with Element Of Crime and Plan B early and our instinct proved us right.

1989

contacts in England led to our first so called "headliner" - Fischer Z played four festivals together with BAP and finished off playing by themselves in Haldern. Together with Cliff Barnes & The Fear Of Winning, Shiny Gnomes and Dear Wolf we passed the two thousand festivalgoers barrier for the first time. This eased the strain on our purses. A new element this year was the party the night before which recalled the early days and became a regular feature.

Break-even was the order of the day in 1990, as Herwig Mitteregger, Ferryboat Bill, Energy Orchard, Norbert & Die Feiglinge and M. Walking On The Water were seen by over two thousand folk (again) on the riding grounds.

On a snowy February day we were in for a magnificent surprise - the fax read "we hereby confirm Bob Geldof for Haldern Open Air Festival for July 20 1991".

Contact had been made by an unlikely route - in 1990 we'd made T shirts with the slogan "Corrupt Ticket Selling". CTS was a new computer-operated ticket distribution system in Germany which not all promoters were in favour of. For smaller bookers in particular like ourselves, the system excluded us from certain pre-sale areas. Other larger promoters were similarly dismayed and liked what we had done. One such booker got in touch with us, which was to prove very useful in the future - getting Bob Geldof was just the start.

The Jeremy Days, The Blue Aeroplanes, Plan B und the Tuff Babies rounded off the billing for the most successful night Haldern had yet seen.

Around 500 fans covered the riding grounds and witnessed Geldof in top form. Enthusiasm knew no bounds and was built to last...our international reputation grew and filled us with fresh hope for future events. Improved connections and references gave us the chance to get to bands before they "broke", enabling us to get names before their prices rocketed. Heroes Del Silencio went big time shortly after Haldern 1992 (year one after Geldof) and would be financially out of our reach by now. Jeremy Days, Kingmaker and An Emotional Fish - tipped for greatness and playing their only German show - joined in the fun. We flew AMF in from Dublin, which was a costly but exotic exercise. We often allowed ourselves the luxury of shipping bands in, whether by nightliner or plane, for just the one show (Blue Aeroplanes, Kingmaker, The Milltown Brothers, The Nits, Bettie Serveert, Energy Orchard, The Silencers, Immaculate Fools). Back to 1992, once again we'd managed to put together a fab contemporary pop package.

Hard to believe, we were up to our tenth festival and we still weren't rich or famous, no Swiss bank account, but a safe-full of stories and legends collected over the years. Once a year we'd awake out of slumbers for this international happening and set about our task with boundless energy. The motto in Year 10 was "Catch The Spirit Of Freedom And Landluft (sniff up, yer in the country!)". Two days of great live music and loads of visitor-friendly attractions. As in the previous year, we furthered our goal of ecological revolution at festivals, working together with the Joseph Beuys Foundation to get our visitors to separate their rubbish and take a deposit on anything which was not recyclable. With the amazing 94% returned material, we had egg boxes made which then went into retail. In 1993 we led the way by switching completely to reusable beverage containers (thats glasses to you), and it worked thanks to our "sensitising" our public the year before. Cost us a packet, all those beakers completely swallowing up any financial reserves we might have had. The apparently indestructible containers had our logo printed on and were sent to all those who pre-orderd their tickets, so you could enjoy full use if your glass weeks in advance of the festival. This caused quite a stir and kept the fields so clean that it was virtually impossible to drop any litter without looking extremely conspicuous.. which worked in everyone's favour.

Of course the really exciting stuff took place on stage. Friday we had The Tragically Hip from Canada and Element Of Crime followed by drinks all round and around and around. For the Canadians, this was one of just six festivals in Europe: Torhout & Werchter (Belgium), Glastonbury (England), Roskilde (Denmark), Scchüttorf and finally Haldern - it was incredible to see the band T-shirts with our name up there alongside Europe's five biggest festivals. Back in North America, this is a stadium band but here they're relatively unknown. Element of Crime were already playing to audiences of 3000. As they came to "Damals hinterm Mond" (Back then, behind the moon) toward the end of their set, and the moon appeared in the heavens, a ripple of melancholy crossed the meadow. On day two we were blown away by the excitable grooves of the Mexicans "Maldita Vecindad", Immaculate Fools from England and The Silencers from Scotland. The Scots patently had so much fun that we're in contact with them to this day. The Hooters experienced their "Re-birth" at Haldern, travelling overnight from Roskilde and playing the show of their lives. Not surprisingly, Philip Boa found them a hard act to follow, but he won the crowd over anyway.

It was a stressful weekend and not inexpensive, leading to financial acrobatics and a few headaches. Great weather, great bands, but everything else cost too much. Shame really!

New year, new luck, but 1994 proved a tough one in getting the programme together. Crowded House had confirmed, only to pull out when their drummer unexpectedly quit the band. We took the risk of going for an exquisite line-up without really considering just how popular (or not) the bands were at the time.

No big hits and not the best atmosphere to date. Having watched the game backstage, Bettie Serveert and The Nits, both from Holland, had to go on stage with their football team's merciless defeat at the hands of Belgium still weighing them down. Our Dutch stage manager Hein Fokker didn't feel any better either.

Roachford did set a highpoint at the end of the day - another musician to break into the charts some months after Haldern. Bobo In White Wooden Houses, Terry Hoax and Die Muskeln rounded off the show. "Shareholder" debates raged - we'd lost money in spite of good weather. The mood was anything but relaxed. What went wrong? "Nobody knew the bands - Geldof and The Hooters, they delivered atmosphere..!" "The Nits were probably the best thing we've ever seen on these riding grounds..!"

"We'll have to get Grönemeyer and Die Toten Hosen if..." etc etc. The idea had been a varied programme of voice and melody in 1994 to reach a wider audience but whilst some people were enthralled, many were bored and puzzled. Opinions drifted further apart, although we can still look back on events today and think we did the right thing. Grönemeyer and Die Toten Hosen would have meant DM120 a ticket and DM8 for a beer.

So we argued, discussed and thrashed out the future of the festival. The Friday party would be accompanied by live music until 11 in the evening to get the audience onto the field sooner. Thus the whole thing became more of a happening and the number of campers increased. This was what we had always wanted, so that visitors could look forward to a whole weekend of fun. We knocked down the price and used our money more wisely. Primarily young artists such as H-Blockx, Sun, Nationalgalerie, Oil on Canvas, Seven Day Diary and Dear Wolf made up the bulk of the line-up and weren't over-costly. The Jayhawks und Giant Sand were on European tours anyway, which helped to keep the costs down again. Element of Crime, ever since the gig in the rain in 1988, had become something of a unshakeable addiction. Apocalyptic weather, torrential rain, mud and, to top it all, broken water mains. Not so much a case of camping by the lake, as in it. Turf turned to swamp. And yet the people kept on coming in through the gates, much to our - and the bands' - amazement. 2000 on Friday and 3500 on Saturday witnessed a miraculous event, which ran without further hitches and inspired by a collective feel which led Niels Frevert, singer in Nationalgalerie, to cite the festival as the highlight of the summer.H-Blockx ignored the elements and turned the temperature gauge to maxmimum. As the rain stopped, Element of Crime began. The band from Berlin were in complete contrast to the one from Munster just before them, and led the soaking wet into a new melancholic world. Great though it was to see the apparently lost weekend turn into this, we still ended up with little in the till, once storm damage was dealt with. More work again, and the future did not look bright.Somehow everything was getting more expensive. But we wanted to keep going and had 130 "shareholders" on board by now, bringing new ideas and energy, whilst others had left either due to lack of time or a difference in philosophy. This festival stands and falls with a willingness to muck in. Its unbureaucratic nature means that the "shareholders" enthusiasm and interest determine where we head. So long as the desire for good live music and everything that goes with it is strong enough, Haldern will survive. None of the organisers makes his living from this event, but it does pay back in terms of stories, happenings, moments that give the festival its special character. A lot of the bands have felt the strength of this love and commitment, coupled with the necessary professionalism. Pop music is all about communication and that is what happens between audience and band year after year. If the fun element remains, on we go. Nothing could stop us coming back in 1996, not even the weather.

And so it came to pass that we were rewarded with luscious green pastures.

Thanks to the rain. A historic year, musically speaking. The Afghan Whigs were blissfully brilliant. Never had the weather felt so irrelevant. Greg Dulli dried our spirits, Tocotronic, Blumfeld und Rekord got the crowd on track. On Saturday we had Samba, Marion and the Dave Matthews Band, the latter a revelation who left the rain-soaked public speechless. A hard act to follow, but Wolf Maahn, The Bluetones, Selig and The Walkabouts warmed to the task. Dave Matthews had been touring with Neil Young so was able to squeeze in Haldern between Konstanz and Brussels. The Afghan Whigs arrived on Thursday already and were a lovely, friendly bunch, they knew their stuff and were interested in what went on around them. 1996 made it clear to us that the element of surprise and coaxing the audience towards the unusual is the essence of a good festival.

If only we could mobilize the gods (and sponsors) in our struggle for idealism in art. Its an expensive business and the shareholders can't always grasp the sense of it all. The artists love the festival but the weather doesn't, and the finances are in danger of getting washed away like the riding ground itself.

1997, Schalke win the UEFA cup and Midnight Oil confirm they will play Haldern.

Of course, not both of these dreams can come true, and the Australians pull out at short notice. Our reaction is as swift as your granny who cooks up a feast out of leftovers. A triumph in adversity, improvisation became the name of the game. We founded "Rees - Living Town Of Culture" and won over the Emmerich-Rees bank, Novoferm, Bonert the printers, Legeland the carpenters, Hanna Music and the town of Rees to assist us in keeping the festival alive.

In reducing the sum available for band fees, we wanted to see just how big an attraction the festival was in its own right. What constant factors were there apart from the rain? What constitutes a "happening"? Interesting questions and the lesser known but nevertheless credible names we booked pointed the way to regeneration and slimming down (in the positive sense). Rotten weather and the slogan "self-confessed country bumpkins invite you to pop in the provinces" went hand in hand with local bands Acid Rain, All Fools Day and Verge O.D. along with Niels Frevert, Darmstaedter, Trance Groove, Die Sterne, Naked Lunch, Pothead, Phonoroid and Readymade. We hit the upward curve and a high level of entertainment without losing sight of our idea. We'd survived, finances eased and Haldern had established itself as its very own independent festival.

We powered on in our search for a sponsor, somebody from the area who shares our love of the Lower Rhine . Indeed we found such a loyal partner with a similar slant on business philosophy: the Diebels Brewery.

360 days of dreaming, 5 days of clearing up. Haldern 1998

In the interests of cultural preservation, Diebels launched a nationwide campaign to promote the 15th Haldern festival. Quality performers like Heather Nova, Guano Apes, Kent, Hothouse Flowers, Addict, Fischmob, Vivid, Gautsch, Readymade, Irony of Fate and Frugal made for a representative overview of the best in pop at the time.

Ticket sales are good, we start to notice the workings of "hypes & trends" in pop: band enters charts, behind the scenes a "best of" is put on the schedule, what's left is no time at all and new ideas have to fight their way into the world. We decide to dedicate the festival to the sixties singing heroine Alexandra and to the recently drowned singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley. Two bodies of work we'd like to draw attention to. For the first time we issue a festival compilation" Full Cream Milk 98" featuring songs from the bands performing, a Jeff Buckley song, and an Alexandra cover version by Element of Crime. Recognising the spirit of the idea, Diebels fully support the "Milk" project, the weather even got better, maybe due to the "Alt- beer". Hothouse Flowers' appearance fulfilled an age-old ambition of ours and showed how moving Irish music can be.

The image for 99 is an old armchair, photographed by Christoph Buckstegen at the free Smashing Pumpkins gig which took place in May 1998 on the Reeperbahn in Hamburg. It had been used to prop the door of the Docks club open. Planting pop bands in stadia is economics, bringing them to places you wouldn't expect is good. Full on pop.

"Far beyond the raging uniformity of festivals, beneath old oaks in deep green meadows where the Lower Rhine flow slows, a bunch of 130 hardy "shareholders" have held fast to their unique concept of how a festival should be, and that over 16 years.."

This was the introduction to the press release for 1999, Haldern had found its place, pop music its spiritual home. James played an exclusive show for us. Another dream realised.

The Beta Band played their first ever show in Germany (another exclusive).

dEUS, Zita Swoon, Muse, Gay Dad, Tocotronic, Blumfeld, Pussybox, Fruit, Soundtracks Of Our Lives, Ozark Henry, Readymade and Sportfreunde Stiller enjoyed good weather and helped us into the Top Ten best festival charts for the first time (in Intro and Visions magazines). Remarkably, the other festivals, such as Bizarre (35,000) and Roskilde with 70,000 visitors had far greater numbers than Haldern with just 5000. We are the exception, and enough people share our enthusiasm for spending a pop weekend landscaped with water, meadows and oak trees.

Heartrending performances by Zita Swoon and Soundtracks Of Our Lives added a level of passion which made all our efforts worthwhile. The Süddeutsche Zeitung (newspaper) gave us a glorious review, a journalist talked of a requiem for pop behind the scenes and praised the theatre of the two days. The Full Cream Milk compilation 1999 arrived in time for Christmas (just).

Unusual ideas can lead to extraordinary results. So it was with Beck and his deceased grandfather Al Hansen. Early in 1999, Markus Bublitz told us of the idea to bring Beck to the Popkomm in Cologne with his exhibition. We picked up the ball and contacted Thorsten König at Beck's record label to develop the idea into something even more special and to find a more suitable context. We suggested the Museum Schloss "Castle" Moyland in the Lower Rhine. Like his grandfather, the Fluxus artist Al Hansen, Beck had tried his hand at fine art before making music, creating wide collages. He often visited his grandfather in Cologne and returned to make his own art in L.A. A Canadian curator set up an exhibition after Hansen's death entitled "Playing with Matches" featuring both Beck & Al Hansen. This toured successfully through America, Canada and Japan.

Artistic common ground between Joseph Beuys and Al Hansen in their lifetimes led us to contemplate bringing these strands together. In cooperation with the Diebels brewery, Terratec, WESTZEIT magazine and the Museum Schloss Moyland, we planned to bring the exhibition to Europe, more specifically to the Lower Rhine. In homage to Fluxus, we sought to make a happening out of the exhibition opening, with Beck there. 12th March 2000 was the date set and, as his interest grew, Beck suggested bringing his brother and the pair of them throwing a piano off the museum roof. No sooner said than organised, the exhibition was flown in, the piano flew off the roof and Beck named the act "The Yoko Ono Piano Drop".

The press conference had been attended by 320 journalists and 16 camera teams, countless radio stations and print media followed the progress of this much-discussed spectacle. The day itself began peacefully enough but grew progressively more chaotic as 3,000 folk turned up to see the piano drop.

Taken by surprise, the museum staff watched the event take over the initiative and run largely without control or restraint: that was Fluxus, we learned from the experts. Afterwards we went for a Grünkohl supper at Rösen in Rees, and the Hansens, Beck included, definitely enjoyed our traditional Lower Rhine vegetable dish.

Media reactions were outstanding and Mr van der Grinten from the Museum Schloss Moyland spoke of the spirit of the 1960s come alive again in the course of the event.

Respect for leisure.

The story of a little happiness often begins with a step back. Where do I come from, where am I going, where am I happy, he who is me. There are places, believe it or not, which give strange beauty the space it needs.

Pop music and an appetite for things which we enjoy. A green meadow, a small tent and Luise, then we can relax away from those daily battles we fight...

With this poem and alternative prose like:

" A simple thought flirts with rural romanticism. A healthy, tasty sandwich flirts with global jetlag. Parallels that break barriers. "Homeless" popstars contrast with down-to-earth country yokels, and yet their private aims are not that different at all. If we all take heart in the common ground and a sense of what is important can transcend social uniformity, then we will finally have what we want: shared happiness.

This press release shows, or plays with, the elements which we as "shareholders" identify with this festival. What makes it exciting, entertaining, where our interests lie, how to develop the idea further. Music provides the backbone and the shareholders flesh it out with life. The audience and the landscape are our treasure, our treasury. For roughly 21 years we've been refining this subcultural festivity of pop and learning all the time. Complicated though it seemed in the beginning, our visitors wish for something quite simple.

Our experience has shown us, you can't buy beauty, you can't plan the magic moments, but with a certain instinctive feeling you can set up the conditions in which such things can be possible. Respect for leisure, for free time. This is the thought behind our festival and our audience has understood. Its the thought behind our 17th Haldern Open Air Festival.

Paul Weller was in a great frame of mind, he felt at home and gave everything. K's Choice and Heather Nova celebrated little premieres and transformed stagefright into a joy of playing. Positive attitudes and a love of performing have flowed through all the bands to have played and in the latest edition it has been the same story of openness and attentiveness. Ask Embrace, Soulwax, Madrugada, Johan, Caesar, Sportfreunde Stiller, Reamonn, Tom Liwa, Bauer, Reef, who incidentally all played great sets.

At this point its worth mentioning perhaps the most historic moment of all: Kashmir. The four Danes' finale was like winning the lottery, scoring the winner in extra-time - how many candles would you need to light to experience the like.

Together with the Popkomm and Westzeit we organised a "Holland Evening" which sold out in Aceton. Bettie Serveert, Johan and Caesar played a blinder in Cologne. In a way it was pretty brilliant and to round things off, The Waterboys played a Haldern show on 20th November.

The deluxe Full Cream Milk CD arrived in time for Christmas again. Roll on August 2001.

That was Haldern 2001

He who buys suncream when it rains, knows that the chair was first a tree. Sold out.

There are many reasons for the amazingly successful 18th Haldern Open Air.

For one, the artists made a point of thanking the audience for their openness and attentiveness which led to such a wonderful atmosphere. For another, we heard of praise far afield, the like of which we had not hitherto been aware of for our two day festival on the Lower Rhine.

Starsailor's James Walsh was sufficiently impressed to state "I think that this was one of the best concerts we've ever played, the audience was so different, so open, not like at the big festivals where people just go to get drunk and listen to Marilyn Manson. Neil Finn called it a "Magic place for Music" and Travis enthused about the friendly ambience and the time-honoured familiarity of this small riding arena.

There were others for whom Turin Brakes' acoustic set in the tent was the real highlight and pondered on the deep lasting impression such simply performed music is capable of leaving.

First on Friday were Wunschkind, local heroes rocking the tent, educational kids from the wreckage of a morally upstanding era. Self-entitled "Artfuckers" Coem and the Ghent PunkpopTrio Starfighter were evidence of our soft spot for Belgian bands, furthering horizons of taste along the way. The Koblenz foursome Blackmail kicked off Friday and sucked the crowd, just let in, stagewards.

Holland were represented by the young and carefree Krezip, full of fun and energy.

Bated breath awaited the appearance of The Divine Comedy, whose complex arrangements and strong sense of melody got right under our skin. The crowd sang along to their hit, Perfect Lovesong, which the band kindly let us use for our festival trailer.

JJ72 und Muse tortured their guitars but not the audience, setting off fireworks and watching them fly.

An almost Las Vegas style revue by Kelis, a fantastic hip-hop inspired performance, was met with great enthusiasm from many and blank faces by some. Polarized pleasure.

Mo Solid Gold rose to the challenge and were rewarded with frenzied applause from a particularly large crowd for so late in the night. For them the party went on long after.

Josh Joplin made his first "folk" appearance with band in Haldern. Together with das Pop and Coem, he had performed solo at the Tepferdt Hall press conference on the 10th of May, this being his first appearance in Germany, an intimate show for a handful of media and most of the Haldern trustees He opened the main stage at Haldern, in front of a rapidly growing audience. It was an impulsive and extreme introduction to European festivals for this happy band. Magnificent.

Another first for Germany was Santa's Boyfriend, led by Sting's son Joe Mendes, brimming with vitality and virtuosity. A certain visual similarity and in the voice cannot be denied, perhaps we were witnesses to a promising new story.

Ingolstadt's Slut stormed onto stage direct from a traffic jam, which did nothing to take the edge of a fiery performance. Eyes began to light up and there was more to come: Kante and Phoenix heightened the quiet sense of magic in the air and passed on the baton to old master Neil Finn. The New Zealander's love of improvisation and musicianship could not be concealed as he entertained both the young and the old in the crowd with solo and Crowded House compositions.

His off the cuff anecdote about our one and only pizzaman Beppo, who first gave him a slice and then a whole pizza when he saw how much Finn enjoyed it, gave Beppo himself something of a surprise. He'd no idea whom he'd given the pizza to and ended up with a song dedication.

The level of dramatic tension which Starsailor created with their relatively unknown set, the stage bathed in blue, could not be bettered. A historic concert, enchanting the audience and itself, hitherto unknown musical pearls leaving the crowd speechless.

It is simply wonderful to behold an audience so enthralled, without the stage having to be set on fire or the artistes undress.

Travis played hit after hit as the grand finale, the whole gathering singing along. It was a joy and privilege to capture this moment in this small place on the Lower Rhine, we were not a little proud.

"Thankyou. That's how it should be."

Sven Regener's comment after a commanding performance hit the nail pretty much on the head.

Backstage there was football and campfires. A mixture of excitement and relaxed wellbeing, an atmosphere which carried on to the stage. An absence of indifference or bands playing because they had to, more a feeling of wanting to contribute to the great experiences of the 18th festival.

The idea of creating a happening without making any changes to the location or environment, and yet following a specific musical concept and drama, seems to pay off.

Our simple and trusted plan of presenting good music in a relaxed atmosphere bears fruit.

It becomes increasingly obvious that our capital at Haldern is based on the festival visitors, who have taken our concept on board and understand not only the choice of artists but the way in which they are presented, how the quality of music corresponds to the size of the event, that is what we are measured by. Haldern's resistance to overblown programming and the passionate teamwork behind the scenes are what makes it so special.

As our visitors' trust grows, we have been able to experiment more and more with our fresh air pop philosophy. Little steps towards a greater goal, defiance of trends and artifice, striving for an even stronger image by attention to detail, without tampering with the size or space of our ‚happening'.

Time and again it is fascinating to look after the smaller, worthwhile elements and steer clear of hype and spectacle. We believe in Haldern as a good place for music, people and a little happiness.

Fire, water and exciting pop music.

"Short and straight lines of communication, keeping in touch with the basics, concentrating on the essence of our varied hopes. It is human nature to want more than one is perhaps capable of achieving, we reduce our programme to an "essential" level, no great falls from grace, no stages one to fifteen and back again. One stage - one life

The clock has long since passed midnight, how do we achieve the next quantum leap in quality, without windtunnel madness, here comes the euro, there goes Europe, monoculture in hyperspeed, fast food, privatised television and strategic global finance, a culture of its own.

If we know that you can't make digital salad and difficult human relationships cannot be discussed on talkshows, we'll probably end up making fire by hitting rocks against each other.

The forum for interesting music has dwindled, victim to trend hysteria, economic dependencies, VIVA2 leaves stage left and the industry tightens the bond to young consumers with "mono"mental "Popstars" madness.

• People get mobbed out of containers and rewound in talkshows for us to slobber over.

• Media recycling has reached a level of perfection contrasting with our minute existence.

• "Privatised" values digging away at "valued" social interests and the rights of the individual.

• The entertainment battlefield sacrifices the last small secrets of life, taboos are led to slaughter in the race for viewing figures.

• Belief is replaced by "half-truths", a consequence of industrialised arrogance, the love of things small is pushed aside.

• Digitalised society points to the clinical death of the same. And yet gene technology can scientifically slow the process.

It is and will remain one of the 21st Century's great challenges to create entertainment without injuring the private sphere.

Isn't it awful but maybe a few of us are in love or own a dog but don't bank on Schumi saving us.

In order to understand, we call for the renaissance of the small and celebrate what we can see and appreciate within our own field of vision.

The power of the small contains independence and room for entertaining individual initiative. We all have a dream.

Haldern 2002 is ours.

Think small. Works well.

On August 16th 2001, Haldern together with the Flanders Music Centre organised an evening of Flemish bands in Cologne Gloria Theater as part of the Popkomm festival.

Linne's commentary sums up the event.

"Creative explosion was a highlight of the Popkomm."

For a Popkomm 2001 with a background of economic stagnation and general scepticism, the night of Flemish Pop Music in Cologne's Gloria theatre was an undisputed highlight, reaping great reviews in spite of stiff competition! Close on 800 fans and record company executives hung their passes round their necks and packed out the red velvet hall to witness a musical offering par excellence. At 4 a.m. the hall was still just as full.

An ambitious programme comprising six bands, plus electronica magicians "Styrofoam" in the intervals, took us on a genre journey through pop.

Fittingly, Das Pop kicked off with a glitzy post-modern eclectic set, matched by Mauro albeit with a different delivery. The ex Evil Superstar with a Menjou moustache took us on an emotion rollercoaster through 20 years of rock history.

He easily mastered a power failure with an acoustic cameo sitting on the edge of the stage, the crowd joining in, and then played a storming finale with the power back on to rapturous applause. My personal heroes of the evening, Starfighter, lived up to their name with a twisting and turning through garage skies with speed, precision and noise.In the thick of it all, they completely forgot to play their big hit "Beautiful Machine". COEM, in the light of Gloria and Haldern seen as the new Flemish Radiohead, offered their intelligent counterpoint to the Britpop pot, and sealed the evening with a French distribution deal and a support slot for Sandy Dillon in Brussels' Botanique club. Dead Man Ray, a quartet based around the grandseigneur of the Antwerp scene, Rudy Trouvé, performed a collection of Americana quote loops with the aid of four guitars and drums. Melancholy memories which went down well with the crowd, still there in great number. As half-three approached, the long-awaited Buscemi finally made it on stage and charmed the sleep-deprived crowd into a jazzy Brazilian groove. The end came suddenly: too loud for the Gloria owners, the sound mixer wouldn't budge, the plugs were blown. Buscemi took solace in a Friday night post-gig gig in the Ludwig Museum and an exhausted but - as the e-mail feedback proved - exhilarated public spilled out onto the sleepy Apostel Street.

Flanders Music Centre, WESTZEIT and the Haldern Festival thank everyone who came and look forward to your e-mail comments. The first ten replies win a bright red WESTZEIT- t-shirt, "Preiswert & sexy" ("sexy at a good price").

2002 and on we go, or rather on we went. We've never been in the superlatives league, making overblown promises, which is part of the trick. Everybody goes home with his or her own individual highlights, their own personal festival.

A theory and the whole secret