Therefore, the tradition suffers – circulation flood, high costs: less and less tent festivals

A party tent on a green meadow, beer tables, music – in the past this somehow seemed to be easier and in what feels like every second Tyrolean village such social events were celebrated in the summer.

The reasons for the “downtrend”
“There has been a downward trend for more than 15 years,” says someone who should know exactly. Richard Scratch is director of the Tyrolean tent rental in Telfs. Where sports clubs, fire brigade, snipers or young farmers used to set up a tent, today there is often an eerie silence. scratch identifies a mix of reasons for this trend.

• Social Change: “People have become more individualistic, preferring to cycle alone in the evening instead of helping out in the club.” It can be frustrating when the same five “Hansen” always do the main work.
• Security Requirements: “The rescue service for a weekend easily costs 5,000 euros. From 1500 people a separate security concept is necessary. A building notice is required for a tent and many municipalities then issue an uncomplicated notification. But some take it very seriously, so we quickly call in the fire prevention experts.”
• inflation: Expenses are increasing, but the prices for entrance or food and drinks cannot simply be increased. In the end, the profit is usually very manageable.
• Liability issues: “If something happens, someone has to take the blame,” scratches the point. And the risk when thousands celebrate should never be underestimated. Court rulings stir up fear: a drunken visitor to the firefighters’ ball in a Tyrolean community center slipped on a worn and non-slip plastic surface. The OGH acknowledged a “construction error” and upheld the lawsuit for an amount of 57,500 euros at the end of the day.

appeal to the government
scratch has other pillars, such as tents for company parties or weddings. Yet his call is: “The non-profit makes Tyrol, we must keep that.” He proposes that the public sector take over insurance for festivals.

Club chairman: ‘Pay the police too’
The Pentecost party of sports club Prutz has a tradition of 48 years, but the club decided not to continue after the pandemic. Chairman Alexander Jäger explains the reasons in the “Krone” interview.

“crown”: The legendary Pentecost took place for the last time in 2019. Was it a success?
Alexander Jager: The cash decrease was rather modest, in a previous year we even had to pay off the tax authorities. Unfortunately, as a non-profit organization you have to pay tax for the festival.

At the same time, have costs increased compared to previous years?
The total costs for the tent, music and security amount to almost 100,000 euros. And not everyone in the state of Tyrol knows that you as an organizer have to pay extra for the secondment of two police officers.

How high is the personnel effort for such a large event?
Usually we had 330 to 350 volunteers. Not only from the football club, but also beyond. Bringing together this enormous force has become more difficult. There used to be a feast for the helpers after Pentecost, with free food and drink.

Do you watch the ending with nostalgia?
Of course there are many great memories. I myself have been there a total of 26 times when the tent was set up. In 2012, the up-and-coming Andreas Gabalier sang along with us, a total of 5500 people came and we sold more than 10,000 liters of beer. These are highlights that will probably never come back.