festival
“Jamel rocks the forester” with Sebastian Krumbiegel
Prince singer Sebastian Krumbiegel at the democracy festival “Jamel rocks the forester”. photo
© Bernd Wüstneck/dpa
In 2023 well-known German bands will play again in the small town of Jamel in the Mecklenburg provinces. The organizers are expecting a significantly larger audience again this year.
As he made clear after the concert, Krumbiegel would also like to see more public commitment from his fellow musicians, especially from those who reach a wider audience than he does. “When I perform here, I know: Hey, here in Jamel, we all agree on that.” It’s not right to stay out. “Then you let it happen,” he said, also with a view to the strong polls of the AfD in Germany.
Before the first tone, the patron and President of the State Parliament of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Birgit Hesse (SPD), spoke. “This festival not only stands for music, but stands for a special attitude. Namely for diversity and respect and for tolerance,” she said. In a statement published at the same time, she praised the organizers Birgit and Horst Lomeyer as “people who have the courage to stand up to those who reject our democratic values”.
Krumbiegel has also been campaigning against racism and for civil courage for a long time and has also written a book about it – “Show Courage”. For his commitment he was awarded the Humanism Prize of the German Association of Classical Philologists and the Federal Order of Merit.
Twice as many viewers as last year
The organizers are expecting around 3,000 guests on Friday and Saturday in the small town near Wismar. After the slow ramp-up following the pandemic break, that would be more than twice as many people as in the previous year. The festival regularly attracts big names from the German music scene who are committed to a good cause.
The festival was held for the first time in 2007 to draw attention to the strong neo-Nazi scene in the area. So that the village is not overrun by spectators, it is never announced beforehand which musicians are expected.
Unlike in previous years, there were already incidents on Friday. According to the police in Wismar, two men from the right spectrum tried to get to the festival site on Friday night. They were discovered by the security service and expelled from the premises. In addition, graffiti with anti-constitutional slogans was discovered.
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