Fête de la Musique Berlin | #FETEBerlin 2026

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  • Fête de la Musique joins 75 festivals for We Vote For Europe

    Fête de la Musique joins 75 festivals for We Vote For Europe

    The Fête de la Musique is all about inclusion, togetherness, cultures mixing and mashing it up, no borders and general hugs and cuddles.

    Which is, as we see it, what the European project is also all about (especially the hugs and cuddles). We don’t want borders, we don’t want drawbridges being drawn up, we don’t want isolationism, no! Europe is a melting pot and that’s exactly what it should be – and where can you better see that than in music?

    Which is why we think it’s important to vote for Europe. To add your voice. And it turns out it’s not just us that think that way: a new initiative has been started, which brings nearly 100 festivals across Europe together to say one thing: #WeVoteForEurope.

    If we look around at some of the people who might actually end up being MEPs (especially from a certain green and pleasant land which shall remain nameless), it quickly becomes apparent just how important it is that everyone who’s in any way sane goes and makes sure to put their vote forward.

    Europe is what we make it; it’ll become what we allow it to become. Which is why you should go and vote at the European parliament elections from 23-26 May!

    This #WeVoteForEurope campaign is an initiative of YOUROPE (European Festival Association) for the European Parliamentary Elections from 23-26 May.

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    These are the festivals who are taking part in #WeVoteForEurope:

    A Greener Festival (UK)
    Aarhus Festuge (DK)
    All Buy One (GER)
    Artlake Festival (GER)
    Artmania Festival (ROM)
    Awake (ROM)
    Bergfestival (A)
    Blaj Alive (ROM)
    Continental Drifts (UK)
    Contra Promotion (GER)
    Das Fest (GER)
    Deichbrand Festival (GER)
    East European Music Conference (ROM)
    Electro Magnetic (GER)
    ESNS – Eurosonic Noorderslag (NL)
    EXIT Festival (SER)
    em>Feel Festival (GER)
    FM4 Frequency Festival (A)
    Green Music Initiative (intl.)
    GO Group (intl.)
    Haldern Pop (GER)
    Happiness Festival (GER)
    Hurricane Gestival (GER)
    IBIT GmbH (GER)
    IFF – International Festival Forum (UK)
    ILMC – International Live Music Conference (UK)
    IQ Magazine (UK)
    Juicy Beats (GER)
    JUMP – European Music Market Accelerator (intl.)
    Kokopelli (BE)
    Kraków Live (POL)
    Lollapalooza Berlin (GER)
    MaMa Festival & Convention (FRA)
    Melt (GER)
    Mosaïque Festival (GER)
    Nature One (GER)
    Nouvelle Prague (CZ)
    Nova Rock (A)
    Off Festival (POL)
    OpenAir St.Gallen (CH)
    Open’er Festival (POL)
    Orange Warsaw Festival (POL)
    Pinkpop (NL)
    Pohoda Festival (SLK)
    Pol’and’Rock (POL)
    Printemps de Bourges (FRA)
    Provinssi (FIN)
    Pukkelpop (BE)
    Reeperbahn Festival (GER)
    Rocco Del Schlacko (GER)
    Rock For People (CZ)
    Rocken Am Brocken (GER)
    Roskilde Festival (DK)
    Ruhr In Love (GER)
    Splash! Festival (GER)
    SoundCzech (CZ)
    Summer Breeze (GER)
    SummerDays Festival (CH)
    SummerSound Festival (GER)
    Szene Open Air (A)
    Sziget (HUN)
    Take A Stand (intl.)
    Taksirat Festival (MAC)
    Taubertal Festival (GER)
    Volume (DK)
    Orange Warsaw Festival (POL)
    Wacken Open Air (GER)
    Wacken Winter Nights (GER)
    Way Out West (SWE)
    We Love Green (FRA)
    Yourope – the European Festival Association (intl.)
    Zeitraum Festival (GER)
    Zeltfestival Ruhr (GER)

  • The Crooked head straight for the Fete: Interview with touring Toronto rock band

    The Crooked head straight for the Fete: Interview with touring Toronto rock band

    The Crooked are a Toronto-based alternative rock band. Formed from four people with migration backgrounds, it was in Canada that they found each other and a common love for their particular brand of rock music. We talk to Neelesh, a Londoner who lived four years in Berlin as a musician and music journalist before relocating to Toronto where he hooked up with The Crooked in his first week in town. Now Neelesh has brought his Crooked band back to Europe and is stopping in at the Fête on their trawl through the continent.

    “For me, Berlin is like beer. It’s entertaining, and addictive. But you need self control – for the sake of health and sanity.”

    FDLM: Where do you play at the Fête de la Musique Berlin 2019?

    Neelesh/The Crooked: Freizeithaus Balzerplatz at 21:00.

    FDLM: what does the city mean to you?

    Neelesh/The Crooked: I lived in Berlin for four years. Like everyone, I have a complicated relationship with the city. For me, Berlin is like beer. It’s entertaining, and addictive. But you need self control – for the sake of health and sanity.

    the-crooked-at-fete-berlin-2019FDLM: Where do you come from?

    Neelesh/The Crooked: The band formed in Toronto, but we’re all from different countries. The drummer is Italian, bassist is Swiss, lead singer is Costa Rican and I’m British. This will be the first time in Berlin for the boys. I’m excited for them. Toronto is like Frankfurt – a business city. Beautiful in many ways, but uptight and prohibitive. Berlin is the glorious opposite. This city may never let them leave.

    FDLM: Why are you playing at the Fête de la Musique?

    Neelesh/The Crooked: We’re on a European tour, playing six shows in and around Berlin. We then head north to Hamburg and Lower Saxony. In early July, we have two festival dates in Norway before returning to Canada.

    Toronto is like Frankfurt – a business city. Beautiful in many ways, but uptight and prohibitive. Berlin is the glorious opposite.

    FDLM: We see the stages, the organisers and the musicians as ‘our’ influencers. How do you think your music influences the audience?

    Neelesh/The Crooked: We trick the audience into liking something ‘ugly’ by rewarding them later with something pretty-sounding, or familiar. It’s dynamics – we love pop melodies, but also dissonance.

    FDLM: Who would you like to share the stage with?

    Neelesh/The Crooked: Nirvana is a fundamental band for most of us. It might be tough getting a gig with them, though.

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    Thanks for the interview! See you on the 21st June!

  • It’s down to the wire! Choose 2 of the last 4 songs and have your say in what Germany sings on 21.6!

    It’s down to the wire! Choose 2 of the last 4 songs and have your say in what Germany sings on 21.6!

    I’m not going to rant, honest I’m not, but I mean really

    It’s the 21st Century, we’re an inch from fulfilling youthful fantasies like flying cars and people living on Mars; not to mention having our own handheld comm devices like on Star Trek back in the day, and all you hear when you turn on the news (not that you ‘turn on’ the news anymore, rather swipe it sideways) is polarisation here, populism there, division over the way, a return to identity politics round the corner, and apparently everyone’s sinking slowly into their digitally defined interest bubbles, helped along by tech bros not trying to grin or cackle too much, and that’s why, you see, that’s why:

    That’s why I’m up in arms, manning the barricades, totally switched on and loving up the FLASHMOB SINGALONG at the Fête de la Musique on the 21st June!

    ++++(NB TL;DR: Jump to the last paragraph….+++

    Because, you see, it’s diametrically opposite to all of that, you know the stuff in the rant in the first paragraph. It’s all about being out on the streets, chilling and hanging out, and more than that; the idea of getting all of Europe to sing along at the same moment all across the continent, in one big loved-up wave of music and togetherness, well. Can’t be bad, can it?

    We started with a longlist of ten songs. Well, that was more of a shortlist of the true longlist, but without splitting hairs, let’s call it the longlist. We tossed it onto the porch, as an old friend of mine used to say, to see what the cat would lap up.

    We enter drunk with fire

    Hm. That might not be the right analogy. Anyway. What we did was to put it out to the vote, we put it on the site, we put it on Insta and Face and all over the shop, and we asked you: Which songs should it be?

    One big loved-up wave of music and togetherness. Can’t be bad, can it?

    Thing is, to be specific, we’re voting on two songs. There are three songs to be sung, but one of them has become standard, and is in fact the one song that ALL of Europe will sing, exactly on the nose of 8pm, and that is your good old Ode to Joy by Misters Beethoven and Schiller themselves, and everyone will be singing it in their own language. Ode to Joy, which contains that immortal line “We enter drunk with fire”. I guess he was a whisky drinker. I digress.

    So yes, what we’re doing is we’re voting on two songs. Two. From four. Come on. We can do it. Let’s all concentrate.

    So here’s the four:

    Queen: We are the champions

    Louis Armstrong: Wonderful world

    Beatles/Joe Cocker: A little help from my friends

    Andreas Bourani: Ein Hoch Auf Uns

    Which is it to be?

    Let us know in the comments below or shoot us an email on news(at)www.fetedelamusique.de! Because YOU get to decide what ALL OF GERMANY WILL SING on the 21st June at exactly 8pm!

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  • We’d love to interview you for the FETE Berlin!

    We’d love to interview you for the FETE Berlin!

    You’re young, you’re old, you play an instrument or you sing: alone, in a band, in a choir? Or you have a club, a bar, a bookshop – or a butchers? Only one thing really matters: that you’re doing something for the Fête de la Musique. Big gigs, small gigs, we don’t mind – we want to hear what you have to say! Because you’re our “FETE influencer” – and we want to give you a platform!

    And it goes like this:

    We’d like to do a short, sharp interview with you and post it on our site.

    With such a lot of ‘tastemakers’ and ‘influencers’ around of course we shouldn’t get to decide on everything. That’s why we need your help. So we’ve put our heads together and come up with a plan – now let’s see what happens…

    Here’s the deal: you’re going to interview yourself

    Yes, you’re going to put some hard questions to yourself! That’s how it’s going to go down, yes sir. And here’s how we do it:

    1. Grab this PDF for your interview questions and answers and fill it in online.
    2. We’ve put together a whole bunch of questions – please choose a maximum of five of them.
    3. The first three questions are obligatory; this is so that we have an idea of who’s doing the interview.
    4. Please don’t forget to sign it!
    5. Send it to news@fetedelamusique.de
    6. Please also send 2-3 photos along with the interview, that are copyright-cleared for us to use (for website and social media)
    7. We’ll post the interview on our blog and in the social web: so please let us know how we can at-mention you on social media.

    Yes, it’s true that depending on what an onslaught of interviews we get sent, we may not be able to publish all of them. Can’t promise. But we’ll do our best to post as many as humanly possible: so please, pass the message on!

    Musikerin auf Bühne FETE Berlin

    Oh yes – although it’s kind of obvious, but just in case: please no content that is forbidden by law or against common decency/morals. Like nothing racist, political, pornographic, not fitting for kids or promoting violence. You know the kind of thing 🙂

    So what are you waiting for? Get that interview written and get doing some tastemaking and influencing!

     

  • Europe-wide Singalong for the Fête de la Musique: But what should we sing?

    Europe-wide Singalong for the Fête de la Musique: But what should we sing?

    On 20 June last year, people in Berlin’s Lustgarten were part of a Europe-wide Singalong flash mob. In Germany alone, spontaneous mass vocalising took place across a number of cities. Together we sang three well-known numbers, hymns to cohesion and our communal dream of sunshiny social utopia: Beethovens’ and Schiller’s “Ode to Joy”, John Lennon’s “Imagine” and Oasis’ “Don’t look back in anger”.

    This year again the Fête de la Musique will feature a singalong – and you get to help decide what we all sing together!

    On 21 June 2019 at 8pm our flashmob singalong will take place in front of the concert hall at Gendarmenmarkt. Why there? Stay tuned – you’ll find out in good time! On this day the Berliners will sing together with thousands of other people across more than 50 other German cities and six other EU countries, namely in France, Italy, Belgium, Greece, Poland and Slovakia.

    Music that brings us together

    We want to sing the EU anthem “Ode to Joy”, Schiller’s hymn to brotherhood, justice and joie de vivre, in all countries in their national languages. Which the other two songs should be is decided by each country for themselves. So what you will sing on 20.06. is in your hands! From our suggested songs please choose two, which will line up next to Mr. Schiller and Mr. Beethoven. Send us an email to news@fetedelamusique.de and tell us which songs you want to hear and sing and why.

    This is our hit list for the Singalong 2019 in Berlin! What are your two favorites?

      • We Are The Champions – Queen
      • We Will Rock You – Queen
      • Heroes – David Bowie
      • I Feel It All – Feist
      • Shiny Happy People – R.E.M.
      • One – U2
      • A little help from my friends – The Beatles
      • Dont worry be happy – Bobby McFerrin
      • Hallelujah – Leonard Cohen
      • Wonderful world – Louis Armstrong
      • Enjoy the silence – Depeche Mode
      • Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
      • With a little help from my friends – The Beatles/ Joe Cocker
      • Everybody need somebody to love – Salomon Burke/ Wilson Picket – and the Blues Brothers
      • Caravan of love – Isley Brothers/ The Housemartins
      • Redemption Song – Bob Marley/ Johnny Cash/ Joe Strummer
      • Killing me softly – Roberta Flack/ Fugees/ Lauryn Hill
      • Music was my first love – John Miles
      • Thick B – Seeed
      • The Model – Power Plant
      • House on the lake – Peter Fox
      • Seven Nation Army – White Stripes

      The order is of course arbitrary and isn’t listed in order or priority – no favouritism here! We’re looking forward to hearing your opinion!

      In addition we’ll be runnign a live voting session via social media, where we’ll also present the songs.

      Here, too, your comments are requested: Why is this a better anthem than that? Which piece best reflects the present day for you? And do you know any better songs than we do? Let us know your opinion via email, Facebook or creative posts under the hashtag #singalong_fetedelamusique.

      “Your spells bind again what the fashionable sword divides”

      This year’s Singalong falls within a turbulent time. The European elections are just around the corner. From 23 to 26 May, EU citizens will decide on the new balance of power in the EU Parliament and thus on EU policy for the coming years. There are controversial positions and fierce debates about what the EU should look like. The refugee crisis and the question of identity, economic imbalance and social injustice, Brexit and calls for more or less EU currently divide the societies of the Old Continent.

      On 20 and 21 June, however, we would like to forget the global issues for a few hours and s just enjoy the unifying power of music.

      Music should connect, comfort and heal. In times when nationalism is showing its ugly face again in a number of places, let us not allow ourselves to be pushed apart, but let us come together and enjoy the beginning of summer! Music should bring joy. And as it says in Schiller’s famous Ode: “Your spells bind again what the fashionable sword divides”.

  • Voila! The matchmaking tool – stages and bands, everyone’s invited!

    Voila! The matchmaking tool – stages and bands, everyone’s invited!

    So many stages, so many musicians, what to do, what to do?

    Which is when we had our aha! Moment, the lightbulb went on (not like one of those energy-saving ones, oh no, one of the old ones, halogen, 100W, it came on like a bolt from God and it just didn’t go out).

    A matchmaking tool: Genius, huh?

    Yes, we thought so too. So – behold! The all-singing, all-dancing Fête de la Musique Berlin matchmaking tool.

    What does it do, you ask?

    Well, there’s around 150 stages – or locations – at the Fête de la Musique 2019. Some of those stages have already booked musicians and bands to perform, some stages still have slots open. On the other hand, there are plenty of musicians who would love to play but don’t know how to get in touch with the people running the stages.

    Voila! The matchmaking tool is born.

    Think of it as a Tinder for bands and stages, except there’s no swipe right and whatever relationships ensue will most likely be a lot more satisfying for all parties involved…

    The process is straightforward and uncomplicated – just sign up as a stage or musician; you’ll be presented with a few things to fill in and a few options, nothing to worry about and voila! You’ll have access to a ton of musicians, bands, stages.

    Click through now and enter yourself into the matchmaking tool – whether you’re running a stage or you’re an artist or (in) a band, it’s a breeze and you can get in touch with a whole hoste of music-minded people who could end being friends for life…

    Link to the Fête de la Musique (Berlin) matchmaking tool for bands and stages

  • Treptow-Köpenick chosen as district in focus for the Fête de la Musique 2019

    Treptow-Köpenick chosen as district in focus for the Fête de la Musique 2019

    Since 1995 the Fête de la Musique has been taking place each year in Berlin, on the 21st of June, the day that marks the beginning of summer. As of 2018, we choose a particular district each year as our ‘focus district’.

    Although the Fête has been going in Berlin for a while now, a brand new idea (since 2018) is to each year shine a particular light on a specific district of Berlin: last year was Lichtenberg, and this year it’s Treptow-Köpenick.

    The area will of course be packed with loads of music makers and music lovers on the 21st June, but in fact all year round Treptow-Köpenick offers an extremely broad cultural programme, a wide range of fun things to do – and an extremely interesting cultural history.

    Köpenick: from laundry to power station to studio

    Köpenick in the 1800s boasted literally hundreds of laundries, and became known as the “washhouse of Berlin”. But the district achieved a very different and slightly dubious notoriety when an unemployed cobbler named Wilhelm Voigt bought a military uniform from a flea market and then proceeded to single-handedly take over the local council offices, placing the mayor under arrest before disappearing with the town treasury’s money. This notorious character who became known as “Captain of Köpenick” eventually had an exhibition devoted to him over a hundred years later, in 2016.

    Berlin soon developed into an important industrial city. Industrial sites, power stations and industrial yards still characterise the city today, and that goes for Treptow-Köpenick too. While the Schöneweide Industrial Salon holds a permanent exhibition providing insights into Berlin’s industrial culture, a number of other empty industrial halls have been taken over by artists of every stripe, using these industrial spaces to devote to making music and art of every kind.

    Art and music in Treptow-Köpenick

    One example of this is the famous Canadian musician and photographer Bryan Adams, who in 2013 secured an old production hall on the former AEG industrial site in Oberschönweide, and has been renting it to photographers and visual artists (including Alicja Kwade, Jorinde Voigt and Olafur Eliasson) since 2018.

    A plethora of places for planned and unplanned performances! Just make music – we’re into spontaneity!

    In 2001, the districts of Treptow and Köpenick were merged to form the Greater Treptow-Köpenick District. Within the district border there are a ton of old and new concert halls and cultural centres. The Kunstanstalt, the Kosmosbühne, Sweet Ground Music and the Friedenskirche Grünau are just a few of the venues participating in this year’s Fête de la Musique.

    Long a cultural highlight for young and old: Wulheide & FEZ

    With the FEZ, the Wuhlheide not only houses Europe’s largest non-profit children’s, youth and family centre, but is also a popular location for open-air concerts with the Parkbühne. On the large green areas of Wuhlheide and Treptower Park (also used by the electro scene for spontaneous raves), we’ll be hearing many amateur and professional musicians making music spontaneously on the longest day of the year.

    Focus on Treptow-Köpenick – and on YOU!

    Whether the Upcycle flea market (“market of possibilities”), the poetry competition (East Berlin Poetry Slam) or the jazz festival (Summer Jazz, 02. – 04. August), the southeastern edge of the capital has plenty to discover throughout the year. On 21 June, however, the cultural scene in Treptow-Köpenick will be dominated by the Fête de la Musique and spontaneous music-making. Like last year, the Fête will be introduced by a big opening event which set to take place the evening before: you’ll be able to find all relevant info soon on this site.

    photo (c) Simone Cihlar

  • All about the Fete – a look under the hood

    All about the Fete – a look under the hood

    The Fete de la Musique, now approaching its fortieth year, is of course a great big city-wide party, a time to just forget everything and have fun – playing music, listening to music, having music in the background, dancing, kicking back, you name it: it’s about having a good time.

    But it’s also true that behind the scenes, in the months leading up to the Fete, there is actually a whole lot of planning and organisation going on, and it’s probably helpful for those of you who are planning on being involved, either as musicians or as stage organisers or undertaking whichever other duties, to know what’s actually going on under the hood.

    The first thing that probably a lot of people don’t know is that the Fete de la Musique is now funded by the Berlin Senate, through the agency of the Berlin Musicboard. What that means is that they pay the GEMA fees for official stages (unfortunately the GEMA decided against bowing to the spirit of this worldwide festival celebrating music and letting the day go free…). They put money into the administration, into the marketing, into printing posters, brochures and the like, into the website and so on. That’s where the state’s financial contribution goes.

    The Fete de la Nuit has been created and has run over the last years

    The costs of running a stage are borne by the stage organisers themselves. Many organisers of stages offset their costs by selling drinks and food. If you’re at a Fete event and you’re hungry or thirsty, it’d be great if you could try to buy your food and drinks from the stage organiser, and help keep this stuff happening.

    If you’re a musician: yes, on this day you can play (pretty much) anywhere. Even though you’re not actually allowed to play in the city, in open spaces, without a licence (last time I checked), and thus are in danger of being moved on from that good ole Ordnungsamt that we all know and love so well, on this day you’re allowed to play ACOUSTIC music anywhere, and everyone’s happy with it. If you’d like to play plugged-in music at an unofficial event somewhere – ie a stage not registered as an official Fete de la Musique stage – you won’t be covered by the moratorium on ‘noise’ that is issued for all official stages for the hours of 4-10pm.

    The Fete de la Musique finishes officially at 10pm, and the licence to be loud does too. However an add-on to the Fete, called the Fete de la Nuit, has been created and has run over the last years, where the whole musical celebration thing goes inside, and clubs and venues have an apres-Fete party night.

    No one gets paid for playing music on this day. It’s meant to bring down barriers for people to be able to enjoy music – whether you’re the one playing, or the one dancing. But the musicians agree to play for free. Street musicians – it’s gonna be tough on this day to put down a hat and hope to find something in it!

    The festival is Berlin’s biggest festival of the year.

    It’s also a free festival. There is no entry to be paid for any musical events taking part.

    Did I miss anything? Probably. If so please write into the comments below or get in touch on our Facebook page, and I’ll include and update.

  • Deadline to register as a stage is approaching fast – make sure you’re with us on the day!

    Deadline to register as a stage is approaching fast – make sure you’re with us on the day!

    Winter hasn’t quite let go of us yet; spring is waiting in the shadows; and still we know that before we can say, whoops that was quick! the summer will be in full swing and the longest day of the year – officially start of the summer, and of course the day when each year the city heads outside into a world full of music – yes, the Fete de la Musique – will be here.

    Each year we choose the longest day of the year to celebrate the one thing that can never fail to bring people together, no matter what their language, their culture or their background. Music really is an international language, and it’s a language that seems to be needed more than ever in the world at the moment, with so much polarisation and so much extreme divergence of opinion.

    Which is yet another reason to look forward to the Fete de la Musique. Because music – the urge to make it, the urge to enjoy it – is one thing that no one can be against.

    And so we would really like to say to all those who would like to be involved to please remember to register yourselves – even though it’s still cold outside, still the deadline to register is rushing up – there are only a few more days: the official deadline for registering is the 21st March.

    Please follow this link to register to be an official Fete de la Musique stage: there are a lot of advantages – for example all official stages have the GEMA fees for the musicians paid by the Musicboard Berlin; plus you’re automatically granted a licence to be loud on that day….and well, we all have neighbours….

    Look forward to seeing you there! #FETE2019

  • How the Fete de la Musqiue came about – and where it’s going from here

    How the Fete de la Musqiue came about – and where it’s going from here

    The Fete de la Musique came about as an idea in – you guessed it – France, in 1981. The story goes that Paris’s culture minister found out that every second young person played an instrument and he was struck by an idea – there should be at least one day each year when everyone who had the urge, could come out onto the streets, bring their instrument, and just play. One day that would be filled with music, the city full of people just playing and enjoying music, coming together and having fun.

    Sounds like a pipe dream?

    But in fact it happened. I guess if you’re the culture minister…anyway, the next year, in 1982, the first Fete de la Musique was held on the streets of Paris, and it was such a huge success that the idea quickly spread. The Fete was celebrated in a couple more towns and cities each year, until by now it’s a popular worldwide institution: sometimes called the Fete de la Musique, or translated into the local language – for example in the UK it’s simply Music Day.

    There came quickly to be a General Agreement that covered how a Fete should be organised, so that it could be considered as being part of the international thing.

    For example, money is left aside for this one day. No commercialisation. Even professional musicians give up on making any money that day and do it just for the love of the thing.

    Another – much newer – tradition which was kicked off in 2018 is the Europe-wide singalong. At exactly 6pm, in every city around Europe, people gathered at a particular place – in Berlin on the steps of the National Museum – and sang two songs: Don’t Look Back in Anger and Imagine from John Lennon.

    I stood there on the steps a year ago and felt a swell of happiness to think that all across the continent people everywhere were doing their best to sing along to the same song, a song of peace, love and togetherness, across borders, cultures and languages.

    And of course we’re looking very much forward to the Fete de la Musique 2019 this year too!