“Summer of culture” for everyone throughout the state
Summer and sun, theatre and music in the open air: we present a successful concept from Germany.
Summer is the time when the major open-air festivals are held in Germany – as well as small-scale concerts, park festivals and open-air theatre. The word Kultursommer – “summer of culture” – applies to numerous towns and cities throughout Germany, but the concept was “invented” in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The state government organised a Kultursommer there for the first time in 1992. “The idea is that artistic and cultural events are not just available for people to go to in the major cities, but that they can enjoy a wide range of cultural offerings throughout Rhineland-Palatinate without having to travel far,” says Professor Jürgen Hardeck, State Secretary in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Ministry of Culture. He was Executive Director of the state organisation Kultursommer Rheinland-Pfalz for 26 years from 1995 onwards.
The Kultursommerbüro, now part of a foundation, provides some 4.5 million euros of funding for events every year, and also specifies the motto: “Event organisers can adhere to the motto if they want to, but they don’t have to,” says Hardeck. And that’s all the state has to do with it. After all: “The Kultursommer in Rhineland-Palatinate is organised by cultural scene in our region!” Assistance is provided for organisers where it is needed – whether money, advice or PR work. Hardeck says that the ideal model in terms of finance is “at least one third proceeds from admissions, one third funding provided by the organiser, and one third state funding”. As a rule, 100 percent of the programme is organised independently by those active in the cultural scene.
This is one of the reasons the Kultursommer is so diverse, with some 200 events taking place between 1 May and 31 October throughout this large state, covering the full breadth of the arts. They range from the film festival and street theatre festival in Ludwigshafen to the Nibelungenfestspiele in Worms, the Fringe-Festival in Trier, the Westerwald Literature Days, the world music festival Horizonte in Koblenz and the festival of medieval music Via Mediaeval in the state’s churches. The philosophy of Kultursommer could also be described as aiming to promote culture for everyone throughout the state. Does it work? “Around 700,000 people attend the events every year,” says Hardeck. “So yes, it works very well indeed.”
