Overview

• Ministerpräsident Boris Rhein and Mayor Sebastian Wysocki launched the festival with a confetti shower and summer-sun opening ceremony on June 13
• Organizers project around 750,000 visitors by June 22, a nearly 50 percent increase over last year’s turnout in Fritzlar
• The program features concerts, theater, comedy, sports events and the official Hessentag song led by René Di Rienzo with children from Frankfurt’s Otto-Hahn-Schule
• The Bundeswehr’s special presentation has prompted the “Bündnis Friedlicher Hessentag” to stage a protest at Bad Vilbel station on June 14
• Temperatures topped 30 °C on opening day, triggering minor medical treatments and forecasts of weekend thunderstorms ahead of the Tag der ehrenamtlichen Einsatzkräfte