125 years of the lake festival
In the course of researching this article, one thing became clear - it is not so easy to date the exact start of the Seefest. Browsing through the records, you come across various anniversary celebrations, such as the "25th Seefest" in 1973. According to this, the first Seefest should have taken place in 1958. However, this is not quite true, as there are already precise records and posters from the 1953 lake festival. What is much more interesting, however, is that there were already concerts in the records of the Mondsee Citizens' Music Band in 1894, which were recorded under the name "Seefest". So we can talk about an anniversary this year - 125 years of the Seefest. However, these are not actually 125 lake festivals, as there were no lake festivals during the war years and in the interwar period. At least none that were recorded. It is also known that there was no lake festival between 1981 and 1996. The fact that the exact founding date cannot be determined is just as interesting as the development of the lake festival itself.
Unfortunately, we can only speculate about the lake festival at the turn of the century, but the date alone suggests that the lake festival was increasingly held in honour of the emperor of the time, Franz Joseph I. It usually took place around the emperor's birthday. The first recorded lake festival was held under the name "See-und Uferfest" on 23 August 1894, followed by the "See- und Uferfest" on 27 August 1895, both of which were played by the Mondsee Citizens' Music Band. Unfortunately, nothing is known about the duration of these lake festivals. The subsequent lake festivals are not recorded until a few years later. From 1903 to 1905, annual lake festivals took place. The date slips forward somewhat. It usually takes place between 8 and 15 August. In other words, always shortly before the birthday of His Majesty the Emperor, which was celebrated on 18 August. In 1904, the lake festival was even crowned with fireworks and illuminations in honour of His Majesty the Emperor. After 1905, the records of the lake festival end until 1953, although the Mondsee Citizens' Music Band records several performances at the Imperial Festival, which was always held on the Emperor's birthday.
However, the lake festivals in the second half of the 20th century are precisely documented. It began with a simple beer tent on the first Sunday in August, accompanied by music, and grew steadily. As early as the 1950s, there were water fountains and the big lake fireworks display as well as a children's parade. In the 60s and 70s, the offer was expanded to include a Miss Mondsee election, the Burda flying squadron, parachute jumps, the famous Drachenwand mountain fire and a few other performances, such as a balloon prize flight in 1972, where a balloon achieved the record flight and landed on the Yugoslavian Adriatic in Zadare after a distance of approx. 770 kilometres. It began with a one-day festival, which offered a small musical prelude the evening before and expanded into a music programme lasting several days. In the 1970s, there were already musical performances in the beer tent two days before the Seefest Sunday and the week after. During this time, the Seefest was officially opened on Friday evening with the tapping of the beer by the mayor. However, the highlight was always the Seefest Sunday, which in the past often had to be postponed or cancelled due to bad weather. Before the big break in the lake festival in the 1980s, it was particularly noticeable that the main focus of the musical entertainment was on local and neighbouring music societies. The brass band "Die Linzer Buam" was the highlight in the beer tent every Seefest year.
When the Seefest was reorganised in 1996, the programme changed considerably. Three days of festivities became a fixed part of the programme. There was no longer any postponement in the event of bad weather. The area was better cordoned off, which meant that eight entrance ticket offices were no longer necessary. The music and beer tent was replaced by a proper concert stage. The musical programme extended beyond local borders and invited superstars and cult bands such as "DJ Ötzi", "Spyder Murphy Gang", "Hot Chocolate", "Ten Years After", "The Animals & Friends", "Nik P", "Rainhard Fendrich", "Wolfgang Ambros", "EAV", "Nena" and the "Electric Light Orchestra", to name but a few, to the festival stage. DJs and cover bands complete the musical programme. The Seefest Sunday is declared a family day. Starting with the morning pint and other entertainment programmes for the adults, there are lots of exciting things for the children to experience with the clowns, magicians, face painting and Kid Mania. The lake firework display with the Mondseebuchtshow is still the crowning finale of the festival weekend and is still accompanied by the Drachenwandberg fire. Even if it is no longer possible to date the exact start of the lake festival with any certainty, one thing is certain: the lake festival has become a beautiful tradition that has adapted to the changing times and has now become indispensable.
Service
Tourism association Mondsee-IrrseeDr. Franz Müller Str. 3
5310 Mondsee
Phone +43 6232 2270
Fax machine +43 6232 2270-22
E-Mail info@mondsee.at
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