Over 2.2 million visitors attended the 2013 Maschseefest (August 18, 2013)

With over 2.2 million guests, attendance was similar to last year’s. Visitors took advantage of the festival—organized for the third time by Hannover Veranstaltungs GmbH (HVG)—to celebrate, stroll, and relax by the lake over its 19 days. Despite weather that was at times midsummer-like and at other times autumnal, the food and beverage offerings, the stage and cabaret performances, and the activities on the water were very well received overall. In addition to the weekends, which saw up to half a million guests, Wednesdays and Thursdays were also particularly busy. With an average of around 90,000 visitors each day (for example, 100,000 guests on Thursday, August 1), HVG was able to establish the Maschsee Festival as a popular gathering place even during the week.

Entertainment was provided by 120 musical acts from around the world, with a total of about 170 performances, 25 DJs with about 70 sets, as well as numerous street performers, walking acts, child stars, and comedians. The “City Skyliner,” the world’s tallest active observation tower at 81 meters, offered spectacular views. It made its debut at the Maschseefest—and became the “Maschsee Skyliner” for 19 days. Around 13,000 visitors enjoyed the impressive view of the Maschseefest and the Region Hannover during a ride on the new attraction.

“We are very pleased with how well the festival went and with the many satisfied guests who came from near and far. For many (day) tourists, the Maschseefest was an opportunity to visit and discover the Hannover Holiday Region—and it once again attracted nationwide attention,” says Hans Christian Nolte, Managing Director of the HVG. Not least, the national—and in some cases even international—coverage in the press, on the radio, and on television ensured that guests from numerous German states, such as Hamburg, Bremen, Bavaria, and Hesse, visited the Maschseefest. In addition, guests from abroad, such as South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Australia, were spotted enjoying a short vacation at the Maschseefest.

In addition to beach lounges, lighthouses, elaborately decorated restaurants, and cocktail bars with lake views, the concerts held around the lake also created a festive vacation atmosphere. For example, on the Seebühne commissioned by the HVG, Mokoomba from Zimbabwe, the Maori band Moana & The Tribe from New Zealand, and Sonoc de Las Tunas and Labana from Cuba brought a wide variety of international sounds to Hannover. At the Löwenbastion, crowds danced enthusiastically into the night under the open sky at “Hannover tanzt am See” and partied hard to live music by Lotto King Karl, Sweety Glitter, and Magic of Santana. “2013 was just as good a year as 2012,” sums up Michael Lohmann, managing director of Hannover Concerts. With cover bands and stars like Gunter Gabriel, the Maschseequelle even attracted more visitors than ever before. In the Irish Village, at the Temple Bar, the crowd partied hard to performances by cover bands like the Queen Revival Band, and at the WestSite, visitors enjoyed a colorful program featuring salsa shows with Emile Moise, house, and R&B. Other crowd-pleasers included the shows and band performances hosted alternately on the weekends by the three local radio stations ffn, Hitradio Antenne, and RADIO 21, such as the performance by the band Jupiter Jones (ffn).

Once again this year, the star of the festival was Maschsee: the numerous water-based events—such as the Red Bull Student Boat Battle, the NKR-DUCK-FUN(D)RACING, the Crazy Crossing funboat race, and the torchlight swim—were enthusiastically received by the audience. With the “üstralala,” around 1,000 Maschsee pirates of all ages set sail—tickets for the entire event were sold out after just the first weekend! But little adventurers also got their money’s worth at the extremely well-attended children’s area on Seufzerallee: Whether at the Pirate Weekend, the preview of the GOP musical “Jim Knopf und der Lokomotivführer,” cool kids’ music by “Deine Freunde”—the band led by KIKA star Lukas Nimschek—or the numerous hands-on activities, the offerings were enthusiastically received.

With laid-back jazz on Sundays, street performers and comedians like Björn de Vil and his African scorpions, as well as numerous street artists showcasing unicycle juggling, acrobatics, and cheeky improvisation, along with shanty choirs, pirate shows, exotic drum groups, salsa dancing, and disco fox, the Maschseefest once again offered something for everyone.

“There was something for absolutely everyone—and that variety really resonates with the guests. Many of them have visited the lake several times and have often promoted the festival among their friends and acquaintances, acting as ambassadors for Hannover, so to speak,” Nolte sums up.

The conceptual changes made over the past three years—such as the creation of the “food miles” and the new offerings on the west and east banks—have also helped the Rudolf-von-Bennigsen-Ufer become firmly established as a promenade, while also integrating the west bank more closely into the festival activities.

Most visitors to the Maschseefest found out about the program via the website www.maschseefest.de, which, with over 1.5 million page views, was used even more extensively than last year. The program booklets, printed in a run of approximately 300,000 copies, were also in high demand. The Facebook page for the Maschseefest Hannover, which was launched just a few months ago, gained over 21,000 fans in a very short time.

However, holiday greetings from the Maschseefest weren’t just sent virtually: A total of 15,000 pre-stamped postcards featuring a festive Maschseefest design were distributed by Citipost for free at the lake for the first time, to positive feedback. The Maschsee Festival became a massive open-air studio during live broadcasts and segments by NDR Fernsehen, SAT 1, and RTL, as well as in reports by radio ffn, Hitradio Antenne, and RADIO 21, which broadcast live from the lake for 33 hours with prominent guests such as Minister President Stephan Weil, tennis star Nicolas Kiefer, and cult singer Lotto King Karl.

The next Maschsee Festival will take place from July 30 to August 17, 2014.

Download the press photo:

© HMTG

A glimpse of the Maschsee Festival

A snapshot of the Maschsee Festival: Copyright: HMTG

_{File type: jpeg Size: 3,21 MB}

Download