Real compensation instead of embarrassing mockery with free tickets!
A tangible and credible severance payment is the least that would be appropriate. Giving out tickets that no one needs or wants is simply inhumane – especially when the majority of citizens living here are older and seeking peace and quiet.
Petra Lindner, MFG-Linz district spokeswoman
Not only because of the deafening noise that occurs every year, the residents of the Urfahran fairgrounds thought they couldn’t hear properly when they found out via the media that the huge LIDO Sounds festival would be extended by one day this year – and now even from Thursday to Sunday lasts into the night. That means four days of extreme continuous noise with no chance of escaping it: “In addition to circus guest performances, other events and the Urfahraner fair, which takes place twice a year, the measure for the approximately 1,500 residents is slowly but surely full,” says MFG Linz district spokeswoman Petra Lindner , which calls for real compensation for noise-affected residents. Last year, those affected were fobbed off with free tickets for what was then a three-day concert: “It is like a mockery if you want to invite people who suffer from the hustle and bustle and noise to the riot epicenter with free tickets,” says Petra Lindner.
Last year, 66,000 visitors attended the premiere of the LIDO Sounds Festival in the middle of Linz. This year the event will not start on Friday, but on Thursday – and will therefore last a full four days. In addition to the noise and the enormous traffic, the residents also suffer from the extreme pollution caused by the festival visitors: broken glass, garbage, feces and everything that such large music festivals bring with them are the disgusting side effects. Petra Lindner: “It’s completely crazy, Linz’s city politicians are constantly talking about banning traffic and noise from the city and then they approve a festival with tens of thousands of people right in the center. Such events belong out of the city, for example in the harbor area (where the Bubbledays harbor festival is already taking place with a similar number of visitors) or up in the new stadium, where there is also the entire infrastructure, which, by the way, was built with expensive tax money.
Another inglorious chapter: Mayor Klaus Luger (SPÖ) promised before the last election in 2021 to redesign the fairgrounds and partially turn them into a local recreation area with a green park including a water bay. After the election there was a 180 degree turnaround, the sealed area will remain an XL event area and, thanks to the continuous asphalt, a huge heat pole.
What also fits into this sad picture: the troubled neighbors are being fobbed off with alms. In an almost patronizing way, households are given free tickets to the concerts on their doorstep. Petra Lindner: “It’s almost like giving petrol vouchers to motorway opponents. No wonder people feel teased and are taking to the barricades.”
Petra Lindner and MFG demand that the residents instead receive compensation of at least 300 euros, which could be financed directly from festival income, such as ticket sales: “That is less than the festival pass costs. And residents would have the opportunity to move into a hotel for the duration of the event. A tangible and credible severance payment is the least that would be appropriate. Giving out tickets that no one needs or wants is simply inhumane – especially when the majority of people living here are elderly and people seeking peace and quiet.
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Questions & Contact:
MFG State Parliament Club Upper Austria
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