From Wagner to Wacken – Music is in the air

During summer, Germany’s festival season is in full swing with events and celebrations everywhere. And with musical heavy weights like Beethoven, Bach, and Wagner being German, music is in our blood. Many concerts are happening outdoors, inviting visitors to fully relish the warm temperatures.

More than 150,000 music fans gather together to enjoy Germany’s biggest rock festival, Rock am Ring in Eifel, with an international line-up of rock bands from June 5 – 8, 2014. The sister festival, Rock im Park, takes place on the same dates but in Nuremberg.

A classical highlight on the calendar is the annual Bachfest in Leipzig. The 300th anniversary of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach in 2014 provides the opportunity to focus on the works of Johann Sebastian Bach’s second oldest son.Berlin goes all out on the longest day of the year and the official beginning of summer on June 21. Fete de la Musique includes more than 80 open-air stages, a street festival and music variety from reggae to jazz to hip hop.

In July and August, as a tribute to 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner, the town of Bayreuth holds an annual festival playing his operas, including Parsifal. The event has been sold out since 1876!Germany is also home to the world’s largest open air Heavy Metal Festival taking place every summer in the small town of Wacken. The event, July 31 August 2, is so popular that in 2014 there is a waiting list and subsequent raffle for tickets.