Münzbach’s cowboys ride into the sunset

You should stop when things are at their best. The Münzbach Forum has taken this motto to heart. The Country Festival, which is known far beyond the borders of Münzbach, will be held for the very last time on August 17th this year. The OÖNachrichten asked the Forum crew to look back on three decades of western flair in the Mühlviertel.

The coolest festival moments

The second festival in 1991. Instead of the expected 500 visitors, 1,500 came. We rolled beer barrels from all the innkeepers in Münzbach across the street to the festival site in what was then the Kulturhausgarten – something that is hard to imagine today.

When Marina Jay, now a multiple ACMF Country Award winner, was a young girl who spontaneously sang for a few members of the Forum team in the empty hall the morning after the festival, with just a guitar.

US country singer Kim Carson unexpectedly showed up at our place on Friday evening and spontaneously gave a little concert for all the helpers.

That was really close

In the flood year of 2002, cancellation was being considered until two days before the festival because many people in the Machland communities were helping with the cleanup. After the worst operations were over, we invited those affected and the emergency services to the festival. It was a very special atmosphere with touching conversations.

Once, a storm destroyed our Country City the night before the festival. At the festival the next day, thanks to a huge effort by the entire team, there was no sign of it.

Because the bands and our pizza ovens used so much electricity, the fuses got dangerously hot. We spontaneously moved the music break forward and nobody noticed.

We are particularly proud of

Our great community. A cool festival like this only works if everyone helps with their talents – organization, electricity, decoration, moderation, posters, social media, setup.

The fame that Münzbach has gained through the festival throughout Austria and beyond. We often had conversations on vacation and heard: “Münzbach? Ah, isn’t that where the Country Festival takes place?”

To our audience from all over Austria and beyond. In more than 30 years, there has never been a fight or anything like that.

That bands from the USA, Canada and Australia visited us that you wouldn’t normally get to see. The atmosphere here impressed them so much that they kept recommending us to their colleagues. Several stars from the USA and Canada came to Münzbach because here – unlike at home – they could simply be people and musicians without security.

We had the craziest idea with

The “Scharti Shuffle”: We created it in 1994 during a cozy get-together after setting up for the song “Orange Blossom Special”. It has stayed with us to this day.

At one of our first festivals, we put up an additional sign on the Linz town signs saying “Country Festival Münzbach”. It was only after more than a week that the police contacted us and politely asked us to remove it.

That’s why we say goodbye now

We did the festival as long as we enjoyed it as a group of friends. Now we will do new things as a group of friends that we are excited about ourselves.

We have many small “rituals” (raising the country flag, the 7 o’clock whisky, the morning sausage grill after the festival) and much more that will remain in our memories

At the end we can say what we have said after every festival for 20 years: “It was a really nice story!”