Summer of festivals in Hamburg Metropolitan Region

The festival season starts with the Baltic Soul Weekender on Weissenhäuser Strand. The 20th edition gets underway from May 8 to 10, 2026 and will feature soul and funk followed by the Cultural Landpartie from May 14-25. Although not a traditional festival, artists will open their studios and galleries in dozens of places across Wendland. The agenda features exhibitions, theatre productions, lectures and of course music.

First held in 1990, the 2026 Mecklenburg-West-Pomerania Festival will launch on June 13 and offers three months of classical music in e.g., churches, iron foundries and manor houses throughout the state.  The month of June also features the Hurricane and Jazz Baltica festivals. The Hurricane festival (June 19- 21) launches in Scheeßel, with indie, rock, alternative, pop and punk music. Founded in 1997, Hurricane  is now one of Germany's largest and best-known music festivals. Meanwhile, the jazz scene will come together on Timmendorfer Strand  for the Jazz Baltica (June 25 to 28) . International stars and talented young musicians from the Baltic states and the local music scene will also take to the stages. 

The highlights include the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival  from July 4 to 30 August with emphasis on Stockholm. The festival has brought classical music, jazz, pop and klezmer to northern Germany and Denmark since 1986 and is known for unusual venues like castles, barns, churches and factory halls which do wonders for the acoustics.

The Airbeat One is a mecca for fans of electronic music. The festival gets underwayy in Neustadt-Glewe, south of Schwerin, from July 8-12, 2025 with emphasis on the Netherlands. The Deichbrand Festival brings a mix of electro, pop, rock, punk and indie to Nordholz near Cuxhaven from July 16-19, 2026.

The 81st Summerly Music Days Hitzacker get underway from July 25 to August 2, 2026. Germany's oldest chamber music festival will feature world famous musicians as well as many up-and-coming musicians and singers.

The Hamburg Metropolitan Region will showcase diversity at the close of the season finale. Let the music rip and head to Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein for the legendary Wacken Open Air from July 29 to 1 August. Organisers of the 35th festival are hoping for glorious  weather! And on August 1 and 2, the Schlosspark in Ludwigslust will host the Small festival in the big park. Visitors can wander from stage to stage and enjoy music, acrobatics, pantomime and theatre.

Year after year, hundreds of thousands of people attend festivals in the north. Passionate organizers have turned them into unmissable cultural events which provide a real economic boost for the locality. If you would like to learn more about this vibrant region, check out the Calendar of Events in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Also take a look at events in the Hamburg State Opera. Led by director Tobias Kratzer and general music director Omer Meir Wellber, the new management team has just made an extraordinary start. The Elbphilharmonie and the many clubs in the city are always an excellent choice. Let the music ring out across the Hamburg Metropolitan Region!
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