Last week the organizers of Europe’s biggest alternative festival announced that the gathering will take place in 2021. After the political debate surrounding the 2019 edition, the announcement has sparked more discussion.
The Fusion Festival will have a limited number of guests, onsite PCR testing, and two separate date ranges in Lärz, Germany. Team Red goes first from June 24th-27th and Team Black from July 1st to 4th.
Previous billings have included Dizzee Rascal, Nicola Cruz, and Stephan Bodzin, among others. As usual, the lineup for each edition will be announced on its first day.
Ticketholders for the canceled 2020 event can choose to attend one of the two teams. Entrance is allowed only with PCR testing in one of the facilities onsite or in their dedicated testing centers in Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig, or Jena. The tests will come at no additional charge for all of the guests, staff, and artists.
Fusion is an outsider in the festival world. They operate differently, be it with their ticket raffle in lieu of actual sales, their company philosophy, or the political debates surrounding the event. The gathering taking place on private property makes it difficult for authorities to enter the festival grounds. Additionally, would-be attendees must enter a raffle instead of buying a ticket – a policy that allows the organizers to avoid overflow and unfairness.
In 2019 organizers earned nationwide attention because of their differences with lawmakers. The German government attempted to set up a police station on the festival grounds. This was totally against Fusion Festival’s ethics and philosophy as they strive to offer a safe haven for visitors to freely expressing themselves without worry.
Fusion’s organizers stood up to the government’s agenda and won. The 2021 announcement sparks even more debate as it’s nearly the only festival taking place in Germany. At the time of writing six major festivals have canceled, as have countless other events.
It remains to be seen if Fusion Festival will indeed take place in 2021. At the time of writing there has been no statement by the German government.
