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Joern Hinkel leaves the Bad Hersfeld Festival with record numbers!
Joern Hinkel says goodbye as director of the Bad Hersfeld Festival after a successful season with over 101,000 spectators.
Joern Hinkel leaves the Bad Hersfeld Festival with record numbers!
A big farewell is imminent: Joern Hinkel is stepping down as director of the Bad Hersfeld Festival and leaving the stage with an impressive audience success. This year, over 101,000 spectators streamed into the abbey ruins and celebrated the 127 performances, which achieved an occupancy rate of 85%. These numbers mean the second best record in the history of the festival, like Hesse show reported.
The celebratory setting was the final press conference, which took place in the impressive monastery ruins. Hinkel, who has directed the festival since 2018, celebrated his last season with great satisfaction and described it as “his most beautiful farewell season”. Mayor Anke Hofmann emphasized that despite adverse weather conditions, a great audience experience was created. Hinkel himself particularly appreciates the hard work of his team and the combination of tradition and innovation in his productions, as he explains in his remarks HNA reproduces, emphasized.
Looking back at the festival season
A total of 101,687 tickets were sold in the 2025 season. This success exceeds the number of spectators in previous years and is also reflected in a positive development in capacity utilization. Here is an overview of the last few years:
| Year | Viewers | utilization |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 94,000 | 86% |
| 2019 | 96,000 | 86% |
| 2020 | 15,000 | not specified |
| 2021 | 42,000 | 94% |
| 2022 | 75,000 | 71% |
| 2023 | 90,000 | 80% |
| 2024 | 103,000 | 96% |
| 2025 | 101,000 | 85% |
Since taking office, Hinkel has successfully led the festival through difficult times, such as the corona pandemic, and has repeatedly emphasized the importance of working with young talent. During the press conference, he also criticized the increasing bureaucracy that often stands in the way of his work and emphasized the need to examine costs since federal funding was cut by 500,000 euros.
The future of the Bad Hersfeld Festival
After the closing gala, which takes place on Monday evening, Hinkel will go on vacation and devote himself to new projects. He plans to remain active in theater, possibly through writing or speaking. His successor will be Elke Hesse, who will direct the festival next year.
The Bad Hersfeld Festival is one of the most important cultural events in Hesse and attracts numerous visitors every year. The success story continues and the future looks promising, especially given the recent positive developments in the theater sector. Loud Stage club In 2022/23, the number of events increased by around 15 percent compared to the time before Corona. Despite challenges such as the energy crisis and bureaucratic hurdles, enthusiasm for theater remains unbroken.