July 22 – 24, 1999
The last Pflasterspektakel of the 20th century was expanded by ten new locations in the old quarter (Altstadt) and on the newly opened Arenaplatz. The festival’s history had seen many attempts made to ease congestion on the crowded area from the Hauptplatz to Landstraße by introducing additional locations. Herrenstraße had proved unsuitable, and the idea of expanding across the Nibelungen Bridge towards Urfahr was never even tried. But the Altstadt, on the other hand, established itself with great success as a particularly attractive zone in a historical setting. So once again, for three days from 12 noon to 12 midnight, visitors could once again flock to the Pflasterspektakel. But this year, the weather really tried to put a damper on things. The summer in Linz was more like late autumn, damp and cloudy. This explains why on the first day only 20,000 visitors were to be found in the city center. Although the Friday was rainy their number nevertheless increased to 60,000, before on Saturday, which was dry, an unbelievable 100,000 enthusiastic spectators were counted. Project manager Christian Denkmaier and cultural manager Siegbert Janko were, however, more delighted with the standard of the artistes, which they described as “outstanding”.
And not only that:
The children proved tougher than everyone else as they went right ahead and took part in all the activities in Landhauspark, paying no attention at all to the rain.
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