“Why is it still Rothenburg?” Sometimes we get this question from someone who has followed Emergenza’s ups and downs throughout the years. Why not change the location of the Festival’s grand finale? “You guys have been there since 1996, right?” The answer is simple – we can’t think of a better environment for this big event that has both the Emergenza staff and the bands still in competition waiting in anticipation. The Taubertal Open Air Festival and Rothenburg, the little town that hosts it, really give us everything that an event like ours needs, making it both useful and delightful, an intense cocktail of grit and relaxation all at the same time. Let’s stop off first at Rothenburg, which is not your average run-of-the-mill charming and picturesque small German town. It sees a good two million tourists a year pass through, a figure that says a lot about the beauty of the place. This also includes some 27 thousand rockers, a crowd quite different from the “traditional”, but warmly welcomed all the same. In fact, on the one hand it may seem that we are second rank, banished out to the valley, but it is really out in the Tauber valley that you get the stupendous view of the city as night falls, when the sky turns awesome shades of pink and the various lights begin to illuminate the historical walls. Furthermore, there are excellent services provided: shuttle busses connect the valley and the city almost non-stop for the three days of the festival. Geographically speaking, Rothenburg is on the western side of Bavaria, at the intersection of the Burgerstrasse and the Romantischer Strasse, 175 km from Frankfurt and 90 km from Nuremberg. Obviously the hotel establishments and such are excellent. For information on the city, hotels, restaurants, how to get there, etc., you can go to www.rothenburg.de KARO Veranstaltungen has been organizing the Taubertal Open Air Festival since 1996, and with the precision of a Swiss watch, they have 27 thousand spectators every year, most of the time being sold out. At the beginning of August, the green covered Tauber valley will be transformed into an enormous campsite (to accommodate those who are staying the whole weekend) and a really unique “concert hall”. A huge stage will host the performances of bands like DIE TOTEN HOSEN, GUANO APES, APOCALYPTICA, and “our very own” EMIL BULLS, the German band that took second place at the Emergenza Festival Final in London in 1997. This year, following in their footsteps, “our own” SINCERE, up-and-coming Belgian band that took second place at the final right here in Rothenburg in 2002, will be playing on the main stage. This special “concert hall” is situated on a large grassy field surrounded by uncountable stands with every sort of gadget and food you can imagine with fruit hanging from the trees on the hills, open to the public…You can just imagine what condition they will be in after three days of uninhibited all-out celebrating…And then there’s another stage, a little smaller and exactly opposite the main stage, where the competition between the Emergenza bands will take place. KARO very heartily welcomes the Emergenza Festival for a number of reasons. It’s an organization that works hard, like Emergenza, as Florian says, one of the organizers of the festival, and this makes them a good match. And another thing – no other partner is capable of bringing together so many excellent emerging bands from all over the world. Moreover, in Florian’s opinion, “Emergenza really helps out the emerging bands, giving them a unique opportunity to play!”. It’s awesome, the support, the number of spectators, the materials made available to the bands (backline and PI-system). And if the food “backstage” leaves a few of the emerging bands coming from a traditional culinary culture perplexed, the drink will certainly wet their whistles. This is Germany, right? Just to give you an idea j