The Freising Uferlos Festival will not take place in 2022 either. As Vipo Maat, one of the two makers of Uferlos GmbH, announced on Tuesday morning, the business risk in the ongoing corona pandemic is simply too high. Relaxation and openings have already been announced, but the overall situation is too unpredictable – and you have to plan now. Just checking the 2G or 2Gplus rule at the entrances and in front of the tents would consume more than 10,000 euros in additional personnel costs, says Maat, “and we don’t know which rules will then apply in May”.
At the same time, the costs for infrastructure such as tents, barrier fences or containers have increased by ten to 20 percent during the pandemic, and companies are currently demanding up to 80 percent of the sum in advance – “the risk is immense. If you then have to cancel, it is one very quickly in insolvency”. In addition, Uferlos GmbH has been working with most of the exhibitors for years. “We can’t conclude any contracts now, according to which, for example, they have to pay the stand rent if the cancellation comes,” says Maat: “We don’t want that, we don’t want to do a festival and culture like this.”
Both Freising’s mayor, Tobias Eschenbacher, and the city council’s culture officer, Susanne Günther, signaled support for Uferlos GmbH, but in the end they didn’t want to put everything on one card, explains Maat. If it then goes wrong, the end of the whole festival is more likely to be sealed than if it is postponed again – even if the pandemic is now for the third year.
In view of the current opening debates, the decision is very bitter and “really frustrating” because everything can probably take place normally in the summer. However, postponing the date was out of the question, partly because the 80 exhibitors are usually scheduled for the big festivals later in the year. Of course it was a disaster for everyone, Maat regrets: “We put a lot of heart and soul into it, but you can’t force it.”