A few years ago they were still in short supply, today they are plentiful: hip-hop festivals. We introduce you to the 8 best in Germany.
Festivals – for many music fans, they are simply part of a successful summer. Barbecuing with your closest circle of friends on the campsite for days, partying – and at the same time experiencing your personal favorite artists on the big stage in the evening. What better pastime can there be for the hot season? Music enthusiasts of the most diverse genres in Germany enjoy a wide range of offers. From metal to reggae to techno, there is something for everyone. One scene that has been attracting more and more attention from the festival industry in recent years is hip-hop. So that you don’t lose track of the multitude of planned events, in this article we present 8 hip-hop festivals in Germany that are worth a visit.
heroes
The Hero’s Festival has been taking place at several locations on different weekends since 2022. The locations 2023 are Geiselwind, Hanover, the Allgäu and Freiburg. The Heroes Festival has set itself the goal of letting German newcomers and hip top stars meet legends of German rap. This is also reflected in the line up for 2023: Nina Chuba, OG Keemo and 01099 are cutting-edge artists, while the older guard is making an appearance with Kool Savas, Trettmann and Sido. However, it should be noted that the line ups of the individual weekends differ from each other. The Heroes Festival takes place in Geiselwind on June 16th and 17th, in Hanover on August 18th and 19th, in Allgäu on August 25th and 26th and in Freiburg on September 8th and 9th.
splash!
The oldest and largest hip-hop festival in the German-speaking world is celebrating its anniversary. The splash! festival will be 25 years old. For this special occasion, the brightest stars in hip-hop heaven and the hottest up-and-coming artists will come to Ferropolis between June 29th and July 1st. As the headliner for the 25th anniversary, splash! Festival this year includes Kendrick Lamar, Lil Uzi Vert and Ufo361. Other highlights of the line-up are – among many others – badmómzjay, who has taken the German hip-hop scene by storm in recent years, Denzel Curry from Florida, who is known for his political songs with constantly changing flows, and Haftzettel, who with his music has perhaps shaped German-language rap like no other over the past ten years.
HYPE
The HYPE Festival in Oberhausen uses mainly trap and Afrobeats artists. From August 26th to 28th, Luciano, one of the greats of German rap, will perform. With Apsilon, the HYPE Festival was able to book a rapper from Berlin with a thin discography but enormous potential. In addition, Black Sherif is an Afrobeats artist who has already made waves in his home country of Ghana. In addition to the music, which of course remains the main focus of the festival, HYPE 2023 will also offer lectures, second-hand shops and other surprises, according to the festival website.
Hip hop open
after that Hip hop open last took place in 2015, hip hop fans from all over Germany are happy that the historic festival will take place again in Stuttgart in 2023 – with a line up that reads like the Spotify review of the average rap listener from Germany. With KIZ, Trettmann and Sido, some of the biggest names in German rap history are coming to Stuttgart. The American avant-garde is also represented at the HipHop Open: JID, who comes from Atlanta, has been delighting US rap fans with his unique voice and unmistakable flows since the late 2010s. These and many other exciting artists welcome the HipHop Open from July 28th to 30th in Stuttgart.
spectrum
This is different from the festivals presented so far spectrum a one day festival. On August 5th, well-known stars and up-and-coming underground artists of the German rap scene will be handing each other over in the Wilhelmsburg district of Hamburg. Among those represented are Luciano, the number 1 in German drill rap, Cashmiri, who works as a music journalist by day and a DJ by night, and the underground duo from Berlin-Kreuzberg RAPK. If you don’t feel like camping and the hassle that goes with it, but still want to throw yourself into the mosh pit with Luciano and Co., you should have the spectrum for the festival summer 2023 on your list.
hook up
With a gloomy line up comes 2023 Hook Up Festival in Karlsruhe therefore. Don’t expect sunny vibes and songs about how beautiful life is here. Because with Bonez MC & RAF Camora, Schwesta Ewa, Fler and many others, the hook up has one motto: pure demolition! Anyone who likes hard rap from the street and deep 808 basses should go to Karlsruhe on May 19th and 20th and visit the Hook Up Festival. Small highlight on top: the festival’s own newcomer contest. There – as the name suggests – newcomers compete against each other to win an appearance on the hook up. The final of the contest will be held as a live performance at the festival.
Sputnik Spring Break
The Sputnik Spring Break is not a pure hip-hop festival, but should still be of interest to one or the other rap fan. With Kontra K, SSIO and Nina Chuba, both old hands of the German rap scene and newcomers to the local hip hop cosmos are coming to the Pouch Peninsula. As already mentioned, not only hip-hop artists find a place on the line up at Spring Break. With Robin Schulz, Kraftklub, Giant Rooks and many more, popular acts from a wide variety of genres play at the festival. The party starts on May 26th and ends on May 29th at 6 am.
Rolling Loud
The legendary Rolling Loud Festival celebrates its premiere in Germany this year. After the organizers have been expanding worldwide for some time – the Rolling Loud started in Miami – this year it will take place from July 7th to 9th at the Munich exhibition center. The line up is mainly characterized by US acts, which doesn’t make it any less impressive: In addition to big stars like Travis Scott and Kendrick Lamar, who already have a few tour stops in Germany this summer, there are also guests who are rarely seen. Kodak Black, Sheck Wes, Joey Bada$$ and Metro Boomin just to name a few.