Germany’s beloved Fusion Festival facing crisis with "very large” financial debt
The festival is in debt exceeding €1.5 million and has asked ‘fusionists’ to donate to its fundraiser
German festival Fusion has revealed that it is under threat due to a "very large financial deficit" that is estimated to be between €1.5 and €2 million of debt.
Fusion is one of Germany’s largest festivals that has run since 1997, taking place in Lärz in the north-east of the country at Müritz Airpark, a former military airport. This summer it returned after a hiatus that had been ongoing since the 2019 edition due to the pandemic.
The parent company of the festival Kulturkosmos Müritz eV put out a statement announcing that the festival must “act quickly so that the entire Kulturkosmos project doesn't slide into an existential crisis”.
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In 2020, ticket prices to the festival rose by €70 to help with costs due to the pandemic. The event also received state and federal subsidies, yet according to the statement, this did not cover the 20% increase for “almost all materials" and "services, technology and infrastructure".
The team has agreed not to raise ticket prices again due to the current cost-of-living crisis.
"In the end we had 64,000 paid tickets from the raffle and only 3,000 of the expected 6,000 Sunday guests came," the statement reads.
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Kulturkosmos is also selling a 100-year-old house which was bought in 2015 to accommodate refugees.
As well as this, the company is selling nine plots of land in Lärz that are "ideal for those who have fled the city, are tired of the pandemic, and are Fusion-savvy home builders with children," according to the statement.
Fusion is requesting for people to donate to its fundraiser via PayPal and purchase "Fusion-themed shirts, hoodies and other solidarity items."
The statement explains that more information will be announced later this summer through a newsletter. Read the full statement here.Becky Buckle is Mixmag's Video and Editorial Assistant, follow her on Twitter