Tailwind for the new event year
31.01.2024 – The city's event venues are starting the new year full of confidence: there are already more than 130 bookings for the Capitol Theater Offenbach and Stadthalle Offenbach for 2024. The review of 2023 is also impressive.
"Overall, we have returned to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels," says a delighted Birgit von Hellborn, Managing Director of Capitol and Stadthalle. Together, the two venues welcomed around 145,000 visitors last year. The Capitol recorded 157 bookings, more than ever before - in particular, more concerts and shows took place in the domed building on Goethestrasse. There were also more rock & pop, comedy & shows in the Stadthalle (69 bookings) than in the previous ten years, but the number of sales exhibitions fell. The weekends and public holidays were particularly busy: Around 80 percent of public events took place at the same time in both venues.
"We continue to meet these challenges with a small, extremely dedicated team of just ten people," emphasizes Birgit von Hellborn. They are supported by three trainees and BA students as well as several freelance technicians. A highlight of the year in review for everyone involved was the anniversary celebration at the Capitol Theater: to mark its 25th birthday as an event location, the former synagogue hosted an open day in October 2023, and around 2,600 guests took advantage of the opportunity. Here, too, the team was on duty virtually around the clock, giving tours of otherwise closed backstage areas, explaining the lighting and sound technology and, for once, being allowed to party under the dome themselves in the evening. Including set-up, dismantling, conversion and cleaning days, the Capitol was used to capacity on 275 days in 2023, which is a record and pushed the team and the venue to their limits.
"The event figures are impressive and show the great potential of the city's event venues," says GBO Supervisory Board Chairman and City Treasurer Martin Wilhelm. "For 25 years, the Capitol Theater, with its guests and artists from all over the world, has been contributing to value creation in Offenbach as well as to the city's image."
The Ärzte concert in September was one of the highlights of the Stadthalle: The gig, which was arranged at short notice, was sold out within ten minutes and lasted three hours. Nazis had to stay outside according to the tickets and cell phones had to stay down according to the announcement, but La Ola spilled through the Stadthalle in high spirits.
Colorful and international program
In keeping with Offenbach, this year's program will once again be very colourful and international. Turkish, Ukrainian and Romanian events are already on the calendar. The Capitol will also host a pianist from China and Cabaret noir from France, while the Stadthalle will host rap from Kurdistan and rock from Australia. In 2023, events were held in a total of eight languages, with some, such as ballet or orchestras, taking place without any words at all.
Corporate events are important as cross-financing for the concerts: in 2023, there were 48 bookings from companies in the city's venues, with the Capitol recording more dates than the Stadthalle. In return, the "Home of Rock'n'Roll" had big names in store right at the start of the year with Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) on January 30 and the sold-out performance by Bad Omens on February 2. At Capitol, the whole family will get their money's worth with "Tarzan - The Musical" on February 4, before Zara from Istanbul mixes flamenco with Turkish sounds on February 17. Variety is also firmly on the program in 2024 - guaranteed.
A review of the 2023 events can be found at the bottom of this page, while the public dates booked so far for 2024 can be found here:
