Heavy rain forces Jamel rockt den Förster festival to cancel opening day in Mecklenburg
Persistent rainfall flooded the festival grounds in north-western Mecklenburg, halting stage operations and prompting emergency church shelters for arriving attendees.
Heavy rainfall halts opening day
Continuous heavy downpours forced organizers to cancel all concerts scheduled for Friday, 4 September 2026, at the anti-extremist music festival Jamel rockt den Förster in north-western Mecklenburg. Six hours of unrelenting rain turned the venue into deep mud, making access roads, parking fields, and camping sites completely impassable for vehicles. Severe ground softening also prevented stage crews from transporting and assembling heavy amplifiers and stage machinery safely. Police cordoned off the entrance to Jamel at the junction with the federal highway earlier in the afternoon. Spokesperson Markus Amseln explained the scale of the weather disruption.
It rained for six hours.
Emergency shelters and repair efforts
The cancellation stranded hundreds of arriving attendees, prompting organizers to arrange emergency accommodations across the surrounding district. Many ticket holders were advised to wait in distant parking lots before turning back or seeking regional lodging. The local parish pastor opened church buildings in Proseken and Hohenkirchen to provide overnight shelter for festivalgoers who could not set up tents on the waterlogged campground. Work crews spent Friday evening spreading bark mulch and structural plates across the stage infield to stabilise the saturated soil. Organizers communicated updates through social media channels while preparing the grounds for Saturday.
We are doing our utmost to get the site ready again for tomorrow.
- Birgit and Horst Lohmeyer launch the festival to counter neo-Nazi presence in Jamel
- An arson attack destroys the Lohmeyers' barn on their Jamel property
- Attackers fire pyrotechnics at the Lohmeyers' residence during New Year celebrations
- Organizers settle a village meadow dispute with the municipality for 5,000 euros
- Six hours of torrential rain flood the site and force the cancellation of Friday concerts
Origins in anti-extremist resistance
Birgit and Horst Lohmeyer founded the festival in 2007 to counter far-right extremism in Jamel, a village section of Gägelow near Wismar. Since the 1990s, neo-Nazis systematically moved into the village with the goal of creating a far-right model community. The couple has faced repeated intimidation and attacks for organizing the gathering. An arson attack destroyed their barn in 2015, and attackers fired pyrotechnics at their property during New Year celebrations between 2024 and 2025. Despite recurring hostility, the annual rock event regularly draws thousands of attendees. The festival line-up remains secret until performances begin, having previously featured acts such as Herbert Grönemeyer, Die Ärzte, Campino, Fettes Brot, and Deichkind. The brass band Meute was among the scheduled acts affected by Friday's closure.
Political backdrop and reduced capacity
The 2026 festival introduced several organizational adjustments, offering 1,000 fewer tickets than previous years to cap daily attendance at 2,500 people. Ahead of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election on 20 September 2026, organizers expanded civic workshops, panel debates, and political party information stalls. State Minister-President Manuela Schwesig served as the event patron and planned to attend, though organizers reiterated that the festival maintains strict party neutrality. Co-organizer ver.di registered the gathering formally as a public assembly, enforcing strict local regulations including a ban on glass bottles. Site preparations followed a July agreement in which organizers settled a village meadow dispute by paying roughly 5,000 euros in lease fees to the municipality.
