NATO bands perform at music festival in May

***image1***Advance tickets for the 19th NATO Music Festival in Kaiserslautern are now available. It takes place May 28 at the Fritz-Walter soccer stadium.

Every other year, the city of Kaiserslautern and NATO’s Allied Air Component Command Headquarters Ramstein sponsor the NATO Music Festival.

“We expect seven military bands with more than 300 musicians, a German honor guard and a drill formation,” said Lt. Col. Meinrad Angermayer, CC-AIR HQ Ramstein Public Information officer. The bands are from Turkey, Estonia, Latvia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States.

“We hope a lot of spectators will come to enjoy the performances of the various music corps presenting a three-hour long show,” said Colonel Angermayer.

The event’s profits will be given to charities through the NATO Music Festival Foundation. The festival has been held since 1965 and the foundation was established February 2003 with proceeds from the 2003 music festival.

“This year’s goal is to further increase the foundation capital to be able to support more charitable and humanitarian purposes,” said Colonel Angermayer.

The stadium holds about 30,000 seats. Ticket prices range from €11 to 20 if booked in advance. Tickets at the door cost €13 to 22.

There are special prices for spectators in wheel chairs and families, who can sit in the stadium’s family section. The show starts at 7:30 p.m.

Advance tickets are available at the Kaiserslautern Tourist Information office in the city hall, through the ticket hotline 0180-517-0517 or via Internet www.ticketonline.de.

For more information, call the tourist office at 0631-365-2716 or visit www.kaiserslautern.de.