Results of the 33rd Maschsee Festival: 2.4 million visitors!

Following what was likely the hottest start to a Maschseefest on August 1, temperatures remained consistently high throughout the first week of the festival. On Thursday, August 9, the Maschseefest had to be closed for 3.5 hours due to a severe weather warning issued by the German Weather Service. After that, the weather remained sunny and summery throughout. In addition to the very busy Saturdays, which drew around 250,000 guests, the restaurants around the Maschsee were also very well attended during the week. As a result, the 33rd Maschseefest attracted approximately 2.43 million guests. That is over 655,000 more visitors than in the “rainy” previous year.

Hans Christian Nolte, Managing Director of Hannover Veranstaltungs GmbH, commented on the preliminary results:“Hannover has once again proven itself to be the perfect host. For 19 days, the trade fair city lived and celebrated its international character around Lake Maschsee. I am particularly pleased that the quality, atmosphere, and culinary offerings have improved even further in the second year of this three-year event. On top of that, we were all rewarded with this fantastic weather this year—it doesn’t get any better than this!”

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19 days – Open-air program on and around the lake
Over the course of 19 days, a total of around 90 bands, choirs, and musicians, more than 20 DJs, and about 50 street performers and walk acts thrilled the audience on the shores of Lake Maschsee. On the lake, the torchlight swim, the Crazy Crossing funboat race—during which Rapunzel even lost her hair—and the NKR duck race were once again hugely popular, with visitors on the north shore watching intently and cheering them on loudly. As is tradition, radio ffn kicked off the musical festivities on the first weekend of the festival with Namika and Stefanie Heinzmann. On the second festival weekend, Antenne Niedersachsen took the Maschsee stage with Marquess. RADIO 21 headlined the final weekend with Diana Babalola, Mariuzz, reejoy, and Hellfire.

The rest of the festival featured another fantastic mix of local and international highlights. Caribbean zest for life, African energy, and Brazilian vibrancy brought a special atmosphere to the North Shore. A particular highlight was the 12-member Cuban all-female band ZULEMAX, which had everyone dancing—from the front of the stage all the way into the side aisles.

At the Löwenbastion, the performances by MIT18, MUNIQUE, and Mr. Rod were among the absolute highlights. The introductory tango classes and the jazz brunch also contributed to a unique atmosphere on the southern shore of Lake Maschsee. Traditional quiz nights, folk bands, and cover bands created a truly Irish atmosphere at the Wild Geese. At the Maschsee spring, the area in front of the stage was particularly crowded on Wednesdays and weekends. The crowd partied wildly there to the sounds of Die Toten Ärzte, Thunderbell, Picknick Park, and the Rockkantine.

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19 Days – A Journey Through the Cuisines of the World
Culinary-wise, the Maschseefest stood out thanks to the roughly 50 international food stalls and restaurants dotted around the lake—a mix of specialties ranging from Spain to the Yukon, and from Miami to Greece. Over the course of 19 days, visitors had a wide variety of options to sample and enjoy cuisines from all over the world right on the shores of Lake Maschsee. Either in the classic, elaborately and intricately designed restaurants by the lake, or “to go,” for example from one of the stalls in the Food Village on the east shore. Particularly popular this year were the many culinary events around the lake. Winemaker evenings, themed menus, Sunday brunch, and whiskey tastings were often booked out well in advance.

Idea Boulevard
On August 14, the Ideen-Boulevard—an event organized by the kre|H|tiv Network Hannover with support from Hannover Veranstaltungs GmbH—transformed the Nordufer into a digital creative hub for the second time. In 27 tents, companies such as üstra, Heise Verlag, and Deutsche Messe presented their ideas for a digital Hannover alongside small startups from the Hannover region. There were also workshops and lectures in the Groove Garden, at the Maschsee Pavilion, and on an üstra boat—all of which were fully booked in advance.

Safety, Facts, and Figures
The Hannover-Wasserturm chapter of Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe e.V. provided medical support for the Maschseefest. Two first-aid stations, three ambulances, an emergency doctor’s response vehicle, four foot patrols, two boats from the water rescue team, and the Psychosocial Emergency Care (PSNV) unit were on hand to offer assistance and advice to visitors and emergency personnel. The PSNV volunteers focused in particular on caring for lost children. Through their “Civil Protection Mission,” the Johanniter provided information about their roles in civil protection and disaster response, and entertained the festival’s young visitors with a Johanniter bouncy castle and a hands-on ambulance. The volunteers thus contributed a total of more than 3,000 volunteer hours at the Maschsee Festival.

Hannover Veranstaltungs GmbH would like to extend special thanks to the police, the fire department, Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe, and everyone else involved in ensuring the safety of the Maschsee Festival: Their dedication and commitment were truly exceptional and were also highlighted as particularly commendable by many guests.

The website www.maschseefest.de has recorded over 1.9 million page views, and its Facebook page currently has over 51,000 fans.

As of today, approximately 80,000 guests have traveled from downtown to Maschsee on special bus line 267, which was set up by üstra specifically for the Maschsee Festival; approximately 10,000 people have used the boats of the Maschsee fleet to shuttle between the shores. The Üstralala, Captain Zopf’s pirate ship, took around 1,000 children, along with their parents and grandparents, on a pirate cruise over the course of five days.

The 34th Maschsee Festival will take place from July 31 to August 18, 2019!
Press photos are available at: www.maschseefest.de/presse