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 consistently sunny and summery. 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’s over 655,000 more visitors than during the “rainy” previous year.

Hans Christian Nolte, Managing Director of Hannover Veranstaltungs GmbH, comments on the preliminary results:“Hanover 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’m particularly pleased that the quality, atmosphere, and culinary offerings have improved even further in the second year of this three-year contract. 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 about 90 bands, choirs, and musicians, more than 20 DJs, and around 50 street performers and walk acts thrilled the audience on the shores of Lake Masch. 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, watched with great interest and cheered on loudly by visitors on the north shore. As is tradition, radio ffn kicked off the musical festivities on the first festival weekend 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 especially crowded on Wednesdays and weekends. The crowd partied wildly there to the music of Die Toten Ärzte, Thunderbell, Picknick Park, and Rockkantine.

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19 Days – A Journey Through the Cuisines of the World
Culinary highlights of the Maschseefest included a total of about 50 international food stands and restaurants 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 a diverse range of countries right on the shores of Lake Maschsee. Visitors could dine in style at the elaborately and intricately designed lakeside restaurants or opt for “to go” options, such as from one of the stalls in the Food Village on the east shore. The many culinary events held around the lake were particularly popular this year. Winemaker evenings, specially curated themed menus, Sunday brunches, and whiskey tastings were often booked up well in advance.

Idea Boulevard
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 on August 14. 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 presentations in the Groove Garden, at the Maschsee Pavilion, and on an üstra boat—all of which were fully booked well in advance.

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

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 extraordinary commitment were particularly praised by many guests.

The website www.maschseefest.de 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 commute between the shores. The “üstralala,” Captain Zopf’s pirate ship, took around 1,000 children, along with their parents and grandparents, on pirate adventures over the course of five days.

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