Zappanale is an annual

music festival A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...

held outside

Bad Doberan Bad Doberan () is a town in the district of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It was the capital of the former district of Bad Doberan. In 2012, its population was 11,427. Geography Bad Doberan is situated just west of Rostock's city c ...

, a German town previously part of

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. The festival was first held in 1990, and the program features various bands performing the music of the late composer and guitarist

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

, and other "music outside the norm". Many musicians who played with Zappa have performed at the festival over the years.

Background

Many of the festival's organizers originate from East Germany, and grew up in a period where Zappa's music was considered unacceptable by several Eastern European

communist countries A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

. One of the festival's founders, Wolfhard Kutz, was persecuted by the East German secret police, the

Stasi The Ministry for State Security (, ; abbreviated MfS), commonly known as the (, an abbreviation of ), was the Intelligence agency, state security service and secret police of East Germany from 1950 to 1990. It was one of the most repressive pol ...

, for being a Zappa fan. When the German government granted citizens access to their Stasi files in 1992, Kutz learned that his file stated that he "knows how to influence the youth with Zappa". When the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

fell in 1989, Kutz could openly enjoy his passion for Zappa's music, and he founded the fan club "Arf-Society". The Zappanale premiered the year after, as what was just an extended party with only one band playing some Zappa songs. Since then, the festival has grown, with an annual attendance around 2,000. The festival is organized by the non-profit Arf Society, which has been a registered association since 1993. In 2002, the organizers helped raise money to have Czech sculptor

Václav Česák Václav () or rarely Vácslav is a Czech name, Czech male given name. It is among the most common Czech names. The Latinized form of the name is Wenceslaus and the Polish form of the name is Wacław. The name was derived from the old Czech name Vece ...

make a bronze bust of Zappa, which is now placed in the centre of Bad Doberan.

Lawsuit

In November 2007, the festival was sued by the heirs of Frank Zappa, the Zappa Family Trust, for use of the Zappa name and image without permission. Court hearings were held in Düsseldorf in August 2008, and the involved parties were given time to reach an out-of-court settlement. In January 2009, the court ruled against Zappa's heirs for lack of proof that they actively used their trademarks in Germany. Such activity was assessed as a prerequisite for winning the lawsuit.

References

External links

Official site

Performer Ray White's official site

Performer Ike Willis' official site

Performer Project-Object's official site
Events in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Music in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Music festivals in Germany Bad Doberan Summer in Germany {{music-festival-stub