Zappanale is an annual

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

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 the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. 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 musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

. 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 that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

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

Stasi The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the Intelligence agency, state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990. The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maint ...

, for being a Zappa fan. When all Stasi files were declassified by the German government 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 (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

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, and more than 2,000 attend the festival in a weekend in August. The Arf Society became an officially registered organization in 1993. In 2002, the organizers helped raise money to have Czech sculptor Václav Česák 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 events in Germany {{music-festival-stub