Germany's Vibrant Festival Scene

Around 1,800 music festivals take place regularly in Germany, often putting entire towns and villages into a state of artistic and social exception. Sometimes it is hundreds of fans, sometimes tens of thousands, who come together here for concerts and often for an accompanying programme as well. The musical spectrum is as diverse as the locations in which the events take place – from early music to techno, from the concert hall to the open field.

The Festival Study – a joint project of Initiative Musik, the Bundesstiftung Livekultur and the German Music Information Centre, in cooperation with the Institute for Demoscopy Allensbach – presents this cultural diversity in a comprehensive way. It highlights both the artistic and social significance of festivals and their economic and structural challenges.

Nine interviews with festival makers offer direct insight into the organisation of a major musical event, including Wacken Open Air, Klavier-Festival Ruhr and the Moers Festival. The organisers explain how programming works, what role voluntary work plays, and what their festival means for the region.

The infrastructure of the festival landscape can be explored in the miz database, searchable, among other things, by musical genres, categories, instrumental and composer-related focal points, as well as locations and other geographical aspects. The database entries provide more detailed descriptions of the individual festivals, including management, programming and visitor numbers.