ROCK IM PARK
Bümo’s Project Director, Walter ‘Schlanky’ Schilling; Festival Site Coordinator, Sebastian Zimpel.
We can bring 450 pieces of aluminium barrier material in one truck as opposed to 275 of steel.” Bümo’s Project Director on site is Walter ‘Schlanky’ Schilling, who has been working at Rock im Park since 2004, he told TPi that Bümo’s presence has grown to the point that there are very few corners of the festival where you won’t see their kit. The list of what EVAGO and Mojo supplied to Rock Im Park this year is staggering. It includes 30,000sqm of floor protection, 27.5km of fencing, 1,400m of pedestrian barriers with 2,500m of mesh fencing, 1,000m of Mojo Barriers, 180-200m of entrance gates, 580m of cable bridges, 47 full fitted out dressing rooms, 290m of Layher scaffolding, 1,200sqm of small tents for the merchandise and food areas and the tents and furniture for the deluxe camping area. “Even if you went to catering you would see a Bümo freezer, sink, washing machine or even the dishwashers and the kitchen flooring,” Schlanky laughed. “We are one of those rare companies who can provide a client with the whole package - that starts with the expertise of our people and moves into a vast array of products. We keep it straightforward for the clients, so people can just say to us: “hey, this is my act and this is the area I want to play - how much does it cost?” To operate in the events industry, where companies come and go and brands change or are absorbed, since 1978 is no mean feat and there is a lot of pride in the Bümo ranks that they have not only survived, but grown. That’s why, Schlanky said, Mojo Barriers is a good “fit”. “Looking at Mojo, it is a great company with great products. You can look at any rider in the world and it will request Mojo or ‘Mojo-type’ barriers. I would say in our business that 99.9% of people know their name – it’s a very, very strong brand. Now it’s time to see what it can do in the future, to put some power behind it.” Having gained a wide experience of the touring bands and the wider events industry since 1986, Schlanky joined Bümo in 2014, at a time when
the company itself was going through change. Having heard the company might be up for sale, Marincic phoned Pracht, the then owner and told him, half jokingly, to let him know before he listened to other offers. A couple of days later he got a call back, and soon Bümo was part of EVAGO. Along with his partner Bernd Loy, Marincic saw the potential and, while keeping the name, decided to not only modernise the company but invest in new equipment and grow through acquisition. As well as the appointment of Schlanky, they also recruited Monica Kashuser who is an expert in artist liaison, and has been head of dressing rooms at Rock Am Ring for the past six years. “Goran didn’t want Bümo to just be a company inside another company,” said Schlanky. “His approach has always been that if he acquires a new company or product he allows one year to observe it and then he knows what it is capable in the future.” The first show that the ‘new’ Bümo was involved in was AC/DC on the Zeppelinfeld in May 2015. A week later the company was straight into Rock im Park. To get an idea of the scale of the festival, you only have to spend a few minutes with the festival site Coordinator Zimpel, who this year also took on the role of Technical / Licensing Director. He is also part of Bümo and another example of how the company is geared up to solve all of its clients’ challenges. Rock im Park takes place within 11km of fencing and pretty much everything inside that perimeter falls into his lap. “I have to find a way to make sure everyone is happy,” he said. When ‘everyone’ means the city authorities, suppliers, merchandisers, utility companies, caterers and the police along with the 75,000 on-site campers spread across 90 different camping areas, it’s a lot for one man. “Up until this year I thought I knew everything about Rock im Park but with the new technical licensing role it means there are a whole lot of new things to check. And double check!” 76