Ready for take-off: from 29 July to 16 August, Hannover is the holiday destination of choice. For 19 whole days, Lower Saxony's largest public open-air party will take visitors on a fascinating journey around the globe.

Stopovers along the way will allow visitors to sample the culinary delights of the international catering concept, attend fantastic free open-air concerts, watch thrilling activities on the lake, enjoy a fascinating programme for kids and diverse cabaret acts. The anniversary celebrations will culminate in a spectacular fireworks display in the skies above Maschsee Lake on the last day of the festival.

Once again, this year's Maschsee Lake Festival is ready to take visitors on a culinary trip to highly diverse countries. In keeping with the motto "Around the world in 19 days", the festival will feature fine cuisine from the Far East, Italy, Mexico, Spain and the Caribbean, and the Irish flair of Temple Bar is guaranteed to be a crowd-puller. However, the menu and itinerary also include regional specialities. We have almost reached the runway and take-off is already in sight: the Maschsee Lake Festival caterers look forward to welcoming their passengers on board.

As far as the music is concerned, Maschsee Lake Festival also invites audiences to embark on a world tour. The programme includes a large number of concert highlights with acts from a huge range of countries: on the Maschsee Stage, for example, Choni Cia. Flamenca and Soneros de Verdad are guaranteed to create a holiday mood. Temple Bar will set the stage for an Irish atmosphere with bands such as The Keltics and The Brogues. The Löwenbastion venue will present not only firm favourites such as Lotto King Karl & Die Barmbek Dreamboys and the indie folk punk legend New Model Army, but also promises a further top-class musical line-up. Country star Gunter Gabriel and excellent cover bands such as Supernatural will set the scene for a great party atmosphere at Maschseequelle.

At the festival weekends, the three local radio channels ffn, Antenne Niedersachsen and RADIO 21 will take over the stage on the northern shore of the lake. ffn will kick-start the weekend with Johannes Oerding on 31 July. On 8 and 9 August, Antenne Niedersachsen will invite visitors to party away the weekend and will also stage a fun boat race entitled Crazy Crossing on 9 August. As always, the true star of the festival will be Maschsee Lake itself, with countless events guaranteed to draw everyone's attention: as well as the Crazy Crossing, there will be a torchlight swim and the NKR Duck Fun(d)racing. The rock music channel RADIO 21 will be in charge of the final weekend, presenting not only charismatic bands, but also orchestrating the anniversary fireworks display at 10 pm on 16 August, as the perfect finish to the 30th Maschsee Lake Festival.

"We are looking forward to 19 eventful days and to welcoming visitors from near and far who come to meet friends or family on the shores of the lake and celebrate the 30th anniversary of Maschsee Lake Festival with us," says Hans Christian Nolte, Managing Director of Hannover Veranstaltungs GmbH (HVG) which is organising the festival.

Further information about the programme, a themed package and visitor information is available online at www.maschseefest.de (in German).

Photo: Copyright: HMTG / Roland Justynowicz