At the end of the year, now that everyone has hopefully survived Christmas in good mental health, we are sending you a brief reminder about the Fusion ticketing process that will begin on January 1, 2024.
"We want to bring people from different scenes together, break down barriers, communicate and bring the new and the unknown to life." These were the words on the flyer announcing the first Fusion festival in 1997. And in 2024, a full 28 years later, this sentence has lost none of its relevance.
Next year, we will launch the Fusion rocket for the 25th time to celebrate this anniversary together for a few days on the most colourful adventure playground under exceptional circumstances.
Since 1997, we have had to endure three Fusion-free summers. In 2017, after 20 years of festivals, we chose to give us and you a break. In 2020 and 2021, a fucking virus forced us to take two Fusion breaks.
25th Fusion, that also means 25 festivals without sponsors and without advertising. There were years when we were close to a collapse. In all these years, however, we have not only been able to create a comparatively unique world of experience and a diverse programme at the fairest possible price, but also to support youth and cultural work in the region of Müritz and beyond. Over the years, a very large network of left-wing alternative structures has developed, which, through mostly voluntary work at the festival, generates monetary support to finance own projects.
25 festivals between 1997 and 2024, that's a long story. Anyone who can remember or clicks through the past years in our archive will realise that a lot has changed over time. The Fusion spirit that has been preserved despite all the changes over the years is still created by you Fusionist:as and your mutual mindfulness and awareness.
Our three-part video documentary from 2018 on the history of Kulturkosmos is still available on the Kulturkosmos website.
Fusion is and remains a test field for utopias - together and with each other, rather than in competition against each other. At a time when the ideas of a colourful, peaceful and universal-humanistic world view are being fought against, solidarity and raising awareness about what we have in common is a core task. Fusion plays a part in this and we know very well how important this experimental centre of utopias is for the everyday lives of many Fusionist:as, how much awareness is raised at every festival and how much the festival means to many people emotionally.
This is also a driving force behind our work, which is why we are already looking forward to the upcoming Fusion. Below we would like to explain the rules of the game for ticketing.
To make things a little more relaxed for everyone, we will only be selling 65,000 tickets in 2024, which is 5,000 guest tickets less than in 2023.
As in the past two years, the price will remain at €220 (including fees and a €10 trash deposit).
In order to meet the great interest in Fusion tickets, there will be a raffle for ticket purchase options. From January 1 to 14, you must order a ticket to register for the raffle. On January 20, an automatic raffle will decide who wins and who loses. If you win, you will be notified by email and your order will be accepted and authorised for payment. We must receive the money by February 6.
Anyone who registered but lost in January will get a second chance one month later, on February 20, in a smaller second raffle. The money for these tickets must be with us by March 5.
Only one ticket can be ordered at a time and per person. Those who want to party as a group can register together as a clique for the raffle and will win or lose collectively. Cliques and individual registrations have the same chance of winning.
All Fusion tickets are personalised and can only be purchased directly via the ticketing process on the Fusion Festival website, or from May onwards via the Kulturkosmos Ticket:Bourse.
Paid tickets can be cancelled until April 28. From May 2, the Kulturkosmos Ticket:Bourse will open online, where ticket holders can resell their tickets to an unknown person, or directly to a known person. Last year, over 10,000 tickets were sold and re-personalised to other Fusionist:as via the Kulturkosmos Ticket:Bourse.
Anyone who doesn't play by the rules of our ticketing and thinks they have to buy a ticket somewhere else online or on the street will definitely not get access to the festival.
Vehicle tickets for the island and large camper vans
In order to regulate the rush on the island, i.e. the quiet camping area, we will be selling an extra vehicle ticket for Fusionist:as who want to access it with their vehicles. Without such a island vehicle ticket, there will be no more access on the island for cars. The tickets are limited and adapted to the available space. A ticket will cost €40 and is expected to be on sale from the beginning of April.
Large motorhomes, caravans, lorries and campers over 6.50 m can no longer camp on the island and the camping areas inside the Kulturkosmos fence. There will be a specially designated camping area for these XL vehicles, located centrally and directly next to the runway. The XL camper ticket for this will cost €60 and can also be purchased via the Fusion website from the beginning of April. Anyone travelling with a giant ship but without the XL Camper Ticket will have to park somewhere on the runway.
Both additional tickets will be available from April in the Fusion ticket shop, about which we will inform all ticket holders in advance.
The main aim of the limited additional tickets for the island is to improve the coordination of vehicles travelling to the island and shorten the waiting time for everyone.
Fusionist:as travelling with children can only camp on the island and also need an additional ticket for their vehicle. Alternatively, they can of course also camp on campsites in the surrounding area. We will publish more information on this after the raffle.
With the XL camper tickets, we want to ensure that heavy vehicles only drive short distances over unpaved grounds, which is crucial in rainy weather to prevent our roads from drowning. We also believe that this extra charge is necessary because we are seeing a significant increase in these large plastic bombers. Such a vehicle, usually rented at great expense, promises a luxury festival experience, but is ecologically questionable and requires a relatively large amount of camping space, which we in turn rent from the airfield at great expense. The ecological footprint of this motorhome group is so much higher than that of people travelling by public transport or Bassliner so that we think €60 CO2 fee is justified.
So much for now about ticketing and the changes to be expected in the coming year.
We wish you a happy new year and hope that it will be better and more peaceful than the last. We also wish you all luck in the ticket raffle and remain with best wishes.
Your Kulturkosmos