Berlin grants permission for open-air events in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg

Berlin's district assembly has passed a motion to allow free-to-attend open-air events at a park in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Groove Magazine reports.

The motion - which was orchestrated by Maria Bischof, a club and cultural policy spokesperson for Germany's left-wing party Die Linke, with support from the Berlin Clubcomission - seeks to establish legal protections for spontaneous events in an area of Gleisdreieck Park.

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According to new documents, the area, which sits near a skatepark and is close to Yorckstraße U-Bahn and S-Bahn station, is "ideal for music events" due to its existing infrastructure such as "emergency exits, a first-aid station with a defibrillator, restrooms, water fountains, trash cans, a kiosk, and the adjacent park management office."

Organisers will be able to register events to take place in the park via a digital system between 24 and 72 hours before they're due to take place. Once approved, music will be permitted until 10:PM throughout the week.

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While permission for events in the area has been provisionally granted, the district assembly has noted that assessments on regularity of events, crowd capacity, noise levels, park protection, and more will need to be carried out. According to Groove Magazine, it is only after these assessments that test events will be able to take place.

The move follows a campaign from Berlin's Clubcommission, the Free Open Air Berlin project, which looks at similar successes for open-air, free-to-attend events in other German cities including Halle, Bremen, and Leipzig.

[Via: Groove Magazine]

Megan Townsend is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, get in touch with her here.