Global Beer festival: Interview with Ernst Wachernig, Director of Muraubiennal

Austria | In the Styrian town of Murau, the summer festival “Global Beer” is bringing the global brewing industry back to the here and now.

Brauwelt International: How did you come up with the idea of “Global Beer” for a festival that primarily caters to tourists? Did you feel prompted to consider the topic more along cultural terms than along political terms?

Wachernig: First of all, you can’t have culture without politics. So we chose the following approach: We would present the cultural history of beer and brewing by selecting certain highlights. It would have been too boring for visitors to traipse along a historical concourse, which would need to cover about 10,000 years of brewing.

Brauwelt International: What makes your festival so exciting, at least to me, is that it juxtaposes globalisation as a political and economic phenomenon, which is an abstract concept to most, with a local reality. Was that friction intended?  

Wachernig: Yes, indeed, we sought to emphasise this political aspect. In our opinion, what currently goes on in the brewing industry is akin to the fight of Asterix and Obelix against the Roman army. In Murau, for example, 180 employees are very successful at “defending” the production of Murauer Bier and selling the products throughout Austria.

Brauwelt International: You are in charge of the programme for “Global Beer”. How did you deal with the tensions between the globalisation of the brewing industry as finance-driven and local beer cultures? Did you aim at bringing the lofty concept of globalisation back down to earth – which means local breweries, local consumers?

Wachernig: Well, what we may have hoped for is probably greater than is feasible. But yes, a festival like “Global Beer” suggests the world and focuses on the region.

Brauwelt International: So far you have scheduled four biannual festivals in Murau. What is the overarching topic for Muraubiennal 2021?

Wachernig: The next festival will revolve around the theme of “culture of the region”. Although we will be showcasing various aspects of local folk culture, ranging from Murau’s civil guards, who were first established in the 17th century and today march for religious and secular festivals, to the Shepherds Pageants and traditional oompah music, we don’t want to reduce it to what is pejoratively called “Lederhosen culture”. That is why we will be inviting artists from Austria and abroad to demonstrate the scope of folk culture. Again, we will not be shying away from potential tensions.

Brauwelt International: August marked halftime for “Global Beer”. How has the response been so far? Are you satisfied with the number of visitors? With 35,000 people attending the first Muraubiennal, you set the bar very high.

Wachernig: True, the bar is high – and “Global Beer” will not surpass the previous festival, which was dedicated to “400 years of  Schwarzenberg”. This much has already become clear at halftime. Still, we expect to have attracted about 25,000 friends and visitors when the Muraubiennal closes on 12 October this year.

Brauwelt International: Mr Wachernig, many thanks for answering our questions.

The interview was conducted by Ina Verstl