Austria (Bureau Report)The Popfest starts in Vienna on Thursday. With free admission there will be around 40 concerts until Sunday. Because of the pandemic, most of them take place in the arena – and not, as usual, on Karlsplatz.
A maximum of 3,000 visitors are allowed. Admission to the arena festival area is based on the motto “First come, first serve”. There are several locks. A “3-G certificate” is required, and registration is also carried out upon entry. Once the permitted maximum capacity of 3,000 people has been reached, entry is no longer possible – unless visitors go out beforehand. Those who leave the arena early also have no guarantee of re-entry, it is emphasized. Extensive CoV security measures were developed for this year’s Popfest. The change from the long-standing main location – from the freely accessible Karlsplatz to the arena – is also part of the concept. Entrance to the arena can be completely controlled. Music is only played in the Karlskirche and a smaller open-air area on Karlsplatz on Sundays. Admission to the Popfest kick-off on Thursday is at 5 p.m. The site can be entered from 4 p.m. on the following days. Most of the concerts will take place on the arena’s large open-air stage. But the small hall is also used. The large hall remains closed, even when it rains there is no change to the most spacious of the indoor areas. Mouth and nose protection must be worn in the small hall. The reason for this is the stricter CoV rules in Vienna, which will come into force on Thursday – a mask requirement will be introduced again for indoor cultural events in Vienna. Compliance is checked by the arena security team. Mouth and nose protection does not have to be worn outdoors at Popfest. No compromises were made in the program. After a completely slimmed-down version in the previous year, around 40 domestic live acts are on the program again this year. The curating duo Esra Özmen (EsRap) and Herwig Zamernik (Fuzzman) are responsible for the line-up. On the one hand, the rap scene will take center stage – with Eli Preiss, Slav, T-Ser and Localhero Yugo, who no longer calls himself Jugo Ürdens. The most famous pop representatives include the dialect duo Attwenger, Mavi Phoenix, Buntspecht, Elektro Guzzi, Pauls Jets and Alicia Edelweiss. There are also offers for friends of harder material – for example, consisting of the extreme formation Fuckhead. There are much softer sounds at the start: The open-air kick-off on Thursday will be performed by the Viennese singer Anna Mabo.
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