Saturday at Hurricane brings mosh pits with female energy and a surprise concert.
Hurricane Festival 2026 – it continues! Anyone who stands in front of the Forest Stage at the starting signal at lunchtime on Saturday really shows perseverance. In any case, Scene Queen is visibly happy about the many early risers who gathered in front of the main stage at 1 p.m. despite the short night and rapidly rising temperatures. As a reward, she opens the “Twerkle Pit”: a circle pit in which twerking is expressly encouraged. And this shows: When the T-shirtless men are still lying comatose in the tents, the women rule the space in front of the stage. Scene Queen’s announcements also make it unmistakably clear that toxic masculinity has no place here.
Get out the Super Soakers
The sun is now beating down on the Eichenring at around 34 degrees, but Ritter Lean doesn’t allow any break in the celebrations. With unleashed ADHD energy, he throws an entertaining party on the River Stage and he’s not above bribing his audience with merch if they’re particularly crazy about it. The crew cools down a bit by firing Super Soakers into the crowd.
A little later, Natasha Bedingfield also benefits from the bombastic mood of the Hurricane visitors. Her 2004 hit “Unwritten” has enjoyed an astonishing revival since its use in the rom-com “Anyone But You” and the TikTok craze that followed. But Bedingfield doesn’t limit himself to the nostalgic moments. The singer covers “Politics” by Coldplay and “Zombie” by The Cranberries, introduces a new song and seems so openly enthusiastic that she infects the crowd with her good mood. Even the heavy, long-sleeved two-piece suit she’s wearing can’t slow down this feathery midsummer moment.
Leonids cause a surprise
This will follow at 6:45 p.m Secret Set announced shortly beforehand the Leonids. The crowds in the Wild Coast Stage tent are correspondingly enormous. If you want to get a spot with a reasonably clear view, you have to come early or make do with a spot at the screens in front of the tent. An hour later, Orville Peck is having a harder time in the same place. His masked cowboy romance gets a little lost in the strong line-up of the day. Especially because the Forest Stage already says: “Viva la Cucaracha!” Papa Roach start their big nu-metal journey through time there.
Jacoby Shaddix has his children with him on the European tour: son Jagger sings on “See You in Hell”, the younger Brixton raps on “Braindead”. Her dad has been singing about being on the verge of collapse for more than 25 years. If you look at the cheerful bear today, the years marked by alcohol and drug abuse definitely seem to be behind him. For “Nu-Metal Time Machine” Papa Roach Korn, Deftones, Limp Bizkit and System Of A Down play before they end up with “Last Resort”. The look back at a genre that is currently igniting a new generation also works reliably with Hurricane.
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Florence Welch takes the field
Headliner vibes afterwards on the River Stage: Florence Welch floats across the stage barefoot and in a red lace robe, directs her band and the four dancers dressed in white dresses with small gestures and always seeks direct contact with the front row. Where there was just shouting and jumping, Florence + the Machine open up a spherical space for dancing, raving and pausing. For “Dog Days Are Over,” Welch asks that cell phones be put away for her special community ritual. The audience should not only document the song for posterity, but also experience it in community. For a brief moment, even the spectators dressed in black, red and gold forget the ongoing Germany game.
Laser eyes and confetti snakes from the crotch
Thematic shift back to the rap landscape dominated by patriarchy: The Bonn rapper SSIO had a huge, muscle-bound action figure of himself built on the Mountain Stage. He himself has an “eggplant-shaped body” from eating a lot of chips and therefore likes to keep his tank top on, but his superhuman image can shoot lasers from its eyes, flames from its mouth and – why not – confetti snakes from its crotch. Dancers shake their butts to the artist’s amusing and self-deprecating rap. A huge portion of the audience thinks it’s exactly the right act to end the day – if you need something a little more classic, you can go party somewhere else.
For example on the Forest Stage, Twenty One Pilots end the evening more suitable for the masses, but no less elaborate. Particularly spectacular: Tyler Joseph’s sprint to the B stage in the middle of the audience and his daring crowd surfing moment.
At the end there is a big fireworks display. Numerous acts express their congratulations to Hurricane, which is celebrating its 30th birthday this year. We’re happy to continue this entertaining and carefree way for decades to come.
