25 Years of the “Krone” Festival

“Let’s Have a Party”: How It All Began

Crowds on Linz’s main square—the “Krone” festivals as a crowd-puller(Bild: Christian Koller)

A rocket start from zero to 200: Even the very first “Krone” Festival in Linz drew crowds to the state capital. It was exciting and fun right from the start. “Krone” Editor-in-Chief Klaus Herrmann recalls.

“Once upon a time”—that’s how the most magical stories begin, as we all know. So, once upon a time, there was a group of distinguished Linz residents from the worlds of politics, business, and tourism who, in the year 2000, sat down with the newly appointed editor-in-chief of the “Krone” and agreed with him that the summer in the provincial capital could use another attraction in August, in addition to the Pflasterspektakel. The decision: “Let’s throw a festival.”

Something for everyone
And so, a year later, the “Krone” Festival was born. The program took place in the most beautiful spots in the city center—ranging from folk music to cabaret and a children’s area, all the way to the main stage on Hauptplatz.

But what would this huge main square look like if only a few hundred people happened to wander there? A huge miscalculation: Already on the first day of the festival, tens of thousands poured into the city center—until, after just a few hours, everything threatened to go down the drain—or rather, down the Danube: A severe weather warning and a police order for everyone to leave the festival grounds. The event was called off before it had even really begun. What a fiasco.

In the end, the fiasco turned into a triumph. After an hour of apocalyptic weather, the skies cleared again, but the equipment on the main stage was beyond repair for the rest of the evening. So there was a spontaneous move to the small side stage at OK-Platz, which first had to handle the crowds during the band Rednex’s performance (“Cotton Eye Joe”).

A Festival for Everyone
The next day, in glorious weather, a spectacular performance by Wolfgang Ambros—now on the main square: the first “Krone” Festival—a sensational success, a celebration for all readers, a celebration for the people of Upper Austria, and, from the very beginning, for many guests from near and far.

What followed has long since become part of Upper Austrian history: one hit after another.

The main square—with fewer restrictions than later on—was packed to the brim, sometimes all the way to the Nibelungen Bridge. Many unforgettable moments, many encounters with “Krone” readers, plenty of thrills—from the weather to the dangerous threat against actress and singer Jeanette Biedermann (“We’ve Got Tonight”; “GZSZ”), which drew a massive police presence and international media coverage. Or when superstar Coolio (“Gangsta’s Paradise”) grabbed an electric car after a spectacular performance at the 2003 festival and got lost in the old town.

It was always fun
From the very beginning, the “Krone” festivals involved a huge amount of work for a good hundred hardworking people. But it was always fun, too. The first festival ended—I can reveal this much—at 6 a.m. for the die-hard fans at Leberkaspepi.

Those were the days!