Metallica and AC/DC came and went, Taylor Swift and Coldplay will come and go, the fan zone will be dismantled and the European Championship atmosphere will have finally fizzled out – but one thing will remain in the Olympic Park: the Munich Midsummer Night’s Dream. For the hosts of the Munich Olympic Park GmbH, this luminous in-house event is the highlight of the calendar, and has been for 20 years.
It is a ritual, like a high mass: consisting of feeding the hungry, devotion at the concert, ecstasy in dance and enlightenment with heavenly magic. Hallelujah! But even such a cult-celebrated ritual can change, for example with the annually changing star guests before the final fireworks display. And this year they are Nico Santos, Stefanie Heinzmann, Mele, Kid Simius and Erobique & Florence Adooni.
At the beginning, in 2004, there was a lot of colorful world music from didgeridoo to Eberhard Schöner’s symphony orchestra on various “continental stages”. Then there was a stage with a large open-air format in the Olympic Stadium for a long time, on which a star mix of Haindling (regional) to Xavier Naidoo (national) and Amy Macdonald (international). The record was 63,000 visitors in 2008.
And here lies the biggest difference: the organizers deliberately nurtured the Midsummer Night’s Dream, and since then have kept the walking distances shorter, the spectacle is now twice as expensive, but more comfortable and designed for fewer than 30,000 guests. But they also have to be attracted and entertained by attractive artists – with the right summer feeling.
Nico Santos is ideally suited for this, “currently the most successful German pop star,” as the program says. We don’t know exactly how he got to that point and what his friend Mark Forster says about it, but yes: The new single “Weekend Lover” was at the top of the radio charts for weeks, he has a total of one billion streams, “Rooftop” is a pop classic from Germany, Santos boosted his fame as a “The Voice” juror, as a “Rote Rosen” actor and in numerous collaborations from Capital Bra to Lena.
The Bremen native, who is also talented as a dancer, exudes a real international flair like few others in this country: He grew up on Mallorca and was greatly impressed by Prince, Justin Timberlake and Michael Jackson, and has already had hits in Australia, Portugal and Switzerland. Before him (8.15 p.m.), Mele (5 p.m.), a fairly modern up-and-comer from Baden-Württemberg who juggles pop, rap and club sounds, and the Swiss soul and heart-felt singer Stefanie Heinzmann (6.30 p.m.) will play on the main stage at Hans-Jochen-Vogel-Platz.
But because this summer night is supposed to be a dream for most people, there is also the peninsula stage: more for those who are into the scene and indie lovers. This year, Hamburg’s unique Erobique (aka Carsten Meyer) will be presenting his project with the gospel singer Florence Adooni from Ghana (8.15 p.m.).
Once again, the keyboardist and electronics enthusiast (International Pony) is going on with the singer influenced by the soul of the savannah and urban highlife and afrobeat, as can be heard in the funky plucking piece “Bach in Africa” or in “Mam Tola”. This easy-listening sound for the future is being prepared by Kid Simius (7 p.m.), who once moved from Granada to Berlin with his guitar to become a dubstep-electro DJ for Marteria, for example.
The festival organizers can even afford the luxury of not even mentioning two other stages in the program: A few bands from the area rock on the Balloon Stage under the roof of the Olympic Swimming Pool, while younger singer-songwriters play on the Pool Stage with lounge furniture and deck chairs like in the outdoor pool on the green roof of the Small Olympic Hall.
In the end, however, it will all come down to the same question for everyone: when will you stop listening to the concerts in order to find a good spot around the Olympic Lake in time for the fireworks. Guests with VIP tickets (from 255 euros) can enjoy the best view of the magical sky on Panton Island next to the Theatron; the entire panorama can also be seen from the grass steps behind it, including the pyrotechnic items fired off from 30 stations on the Olympic Hill (day ticket 52 euros).
But even on the east bank (42 euros) you can see the most important thing: the 45 launch ramps in the middle of the Olympic Lake. Otherwise you just have to turn around. A total of 30,000 fireworks can be seen, heard, felt and smelled, new technology is supposed to make the color transitions in the effects more seamless, everything is supposed to be “even more rhythmic” and “even more emotional” to the musical potpourri, starting with the theme song from “Game of Thrones”. The fireworks start at 10:10 p.m., after 34 minutes there is a bang and flash for the last time – nothing has changed in 20 years.