Overview

• The Gägelow council has approved a €0.70 per square meter fee for the use of municipal land by the 'Jamel rockt den Förster' festival, amounting to approximately €10,500 for this year's event.
• Festival organizer Birgit Lohmeyer has called the fee an 'absolute outrage' and plans to challenge the decision legally, leaving the festival's future uncertain.
• The council justified the fee by citing the village's strained budget, though it recently declined an €80,000 land purchase offer from the state land company.
• The festival, founded in 2007 by the Lohmeyers, serves as a cultural and political stand against the village's reputation as a far-right stronghold, drawing prominent artists like Die Toten Hosen and Herbert Grönemeyer.
• The Lohmeyers have faced years of hostility, including arson and harassment, while receiving national recognition for their efforts to promote democracy and counter extremism.