That's how Orange Blossom Special 2024 WAS

Sunday morning is in the tradition of the surprise act: at 11 am, almost the entire audience gathers curiously in the festival garden to see who is taking part this year. In 2023 it was The Nerves that shook us all awake. This year, a familiar hero was welcomed back: Canadian Alex Henry Foster played his first show after a long illness and obviously had a lot of catching up to do: between the elegiac songs that don’t fit into any category, he crowd surfed with or without a guitar and repeatedly started spoken word passages that had preacher qualities. His mantra, which he was able to weave in again and again: “Out there, there is war everywhere. Men with tanks, bombs, hatred are poisoning the world. But here in the garden, this is a community. This is family. This is the antidote – and it is precious. Keep it and take it outside.” Very beautiful, very fitting words.