Africa Festival

This year I started my festivalseason with the Africa Festival in Würzburg. Usually it's a four-day festival taking place at the Mainwiesen in Würzburg - celebrating international afro music - but this time everything was different. It was the 25th anniversary of this festival starting on thursday (30th may) and everything began as planned but then the rain came and changed everything.

When I arrived there on friday I found the festivalarea deserted and was a little bit confused until I saw the overflowing river.

I hadn't heard the news of the flood and was kinda shocked as I heard all the details. The whole campingarea had to be evacuated and the festivalarea had to be cleared. There was no possibility for the festivalorganizers to proceed as planned.

I didn't expect the festival to happen under these circumstances and was really surprised when I heard that the concerts were moved to a big hall (Posthalle)

and that every camper had the chance to sleep at a local school till the festival is over.

So I walked around town and photographed the emergency solutions of the festivalorganizers and the festivalvisitors

and then headed back to the Posthalle to take some photos of the concerts and of course take some portraits there.

One of the portraits:

Africa Festival 2013


All in all I think it was an extreme situation which was well handled. The festivalorganizer didn't just cancel the festival but found good solutions for nearly everybody and made it possible to continue the concerts and most of the visitors kept their good mood up and welcomed this new experience.

Stay tuned ;) my next post will be about the Freqs of Nature Festival!

Festivalseason 2013 - here I come!

Today I finally send out my first photo-accreditation-request-emails for the upcoming festivalseason! I'm so excited and if everything goes well - then I'm going to photograph at 6 or 7 festivals of all different kinds of music genres!



I'll update as soon as I get my first accreditations!

Stay tuned ;)

End of season

Since I started the festival project in April with Rock in den Ruinen - I have been at nine festivals this year and finished 2012 with the Chiemsee Reggae Summer. I had such a great time photographing at all those festivals and meeting so many interesting people - I actually don't want it to stop. So I'm really looking forward to next year when I'm going to concentrate more on festivals with music genres like hip-hop or electro and maybe some unusual styles of music.

If you know any festivals in germany with awesome visitors which might fit into my project or one with a music genre I didn't photograph yet or maybe you do know a festival-organizer who might be interested in this project, please write me a message here or to theaschneider[at]gmx.net - that would be awesome!! And I'm really looking forward to get some great suggestions!

Stay tuned ;)

Chiemsee Reggae Summer

The Chiemsee Reggae Summer was my next festival. It's a three-day reggae festival but there are also HipHop artists. I drove there on friday the 24th and left at the 26th of august and besides the weather - it was awesome! I really like the location with all the mountains surrounding the area and the opportunity to take a bath in the Chiemsee or the river right next to the camping area called Tiroler Ache. The people I met there were so openminded and friendly and there were many participants for my project. The light was just amazing and the mountains made a beautiful background for my portraits. There were so many interesting people I would've liked to photograph but there wasn't enough time because it started to rain on saturday and it didn't really stop till I left on sunday morning - sadly I had to leave that early. All the rain turned the parking area into mud and I had to wait a very long time until I got my car out of that mess but on friday there was perfect sunshine and the entire time there was a great atmosphere at the whole area. Since the weather always is like that at the Chiemsee Reggae Summer - the visitors were prepared: gumboots and raincoats saved the day and everyone was having fun anyway!

And of course one of my portraits

Chiemsee Reggae Summer 2012


Stay tuned ;)

Weinturm Open Air

The Weinturm Open Air is one of my favourite festivals because it's taking place in my hometown. It' a three-day festival that lies on an idyllic hill in Bad Windsheim called the Weinturm. This year it had it's 35th anniversary and there were up to 3000 visitors a day. The music that is played there varies a lot but I would say it's mostly reggae or ska or something like that - I can't really define it - and the bands are kind of unknown or just before the "breakthrough" - for example Sportfreunde Stiller, Deichkind, Culcha Candela or Polarkreis 18 already played there but before they were big. What also makes this festival special is that everyone is working voluntary and the organizer has no explicit purpose to draw profit - so the food, drinks and entrance fee are rather human. All in all this festival has a relaxed and friendly atmosphere and is definitely worth a visit!

And of course one of the portraits

Weinturm Open Air 2012

Stay tuned ;) next post will be about the Chiemsee Reggae Summer!

Klassik Open Air

The Klassik Open Air in Nürnberg was a tough one. It is an open air festival for classical music and I have been there on the fourth of August. It was set up as a huge picnic in a nice park and there were so so many people - it was impressing! But I really had a problem finding people who were willing to take part in my project and let me take their portrait. But those who said "yes" were very friendly and I was astonished that there were so many young people. It's a whole-family-event and it's for free!

And of course one of the portraits

Klassik open Air 2012


Stay tuned ;) next post will be about the Weinturm Open Air!

Juicy Beats

On the 28.07.12 I've been at the 17. Juicy Beats Festival. It's a one-day festival taking place at the Westfalenpark in Dortmund. They play mostly electronic and indie and other music there with more than twenty stages all over that beautiful park in the middle of Dortmund. It's an awesome location for a festival! I was really surprised at the size of the area and the many many stages. Great place, great and friendly people, what can I say - it was fun! But see for yourself:

And the portrait:

Juicy Beats 2012


Stay tuned ;) next post will be about the Klassik Open Air!