Spending a whole weekend with friends in the countryside, living in a tent, partying late into the night and listening to non-stop music, live or played by a DJ: Music festivals in Germany are an integral part of the cultural landscape and, for many Germans, are among the most enjoyable activities of the year. Here we’ll present a few of them acoustically and in pictures.
Here's to the nights that turned into mornings and the friends that turned into family
For many Germans, attending a music festival is one of the most important events of the year. It’s about more
than music, though. The multi-day events with dozens of groups and performers are about celebrating, dancing, new experiences, making friends, testing boundaries, and expanding horizons. The festival landscape is as diverse as the fans' preferences, and often the organizers' offerings are so wide-ranging that visitors can put together their own individual program. From the hundreds of German music festivals, we have selected a few that we found particularly noteworthy and that have a clear musical or conceptual profile. To each we have provided an acoustic background in the form of playlists that match the festival program. The result is a small musical journey through Germany with eight stops so far. Discover the sound of the festivals and maybe even your next favorite tune.
We owe a big thank you for the help in creating the playlists, collecting information and for many of the beautiful pictures: Sylvana Brozi, Nina Nagele, Mareen Paap, Stefanie Rogoll, Frank Hissenkämper, Dennis Kastrup, Stefan Reichmann, Rembert Stiewe and Thorsten Töpp. Translations: Faith Ann Gibson (EN) and Nathalie Huet (FR). Thank you!
"We are programmed for everything, and whatever you want will be executed" – Kraftwerk’s 50th anniversary prompts Arno Raffeiner to look back on the history of the pioneers of electronic pop music, their various musical approaches and genres over time and their seminal influence on music in Germany and the US.
