Reeperbahn Festival Preview
REEPERBAHN FESTIVAL 2013:
More than 300 bands from 35 nations to rock Hamburg’s St Pauli district
by Louise Mothersole
‘Daunting’ is the word that first comes to this humble reviewer’s mind when looking at the extensive line-up and chock-full list of activities that are part of – or surround – Hamburg’s Reeperbahn Festival. With more than 300 bands from 35 nations, panels and talks from industry professionals, a push of St Pauli district’s cultural and classical music history, a diverse mix of exhibitions, film screenings, book readings, experimental performance, networking events, art and soundscape installations… with all of this (and more that has surely been unintentionally omitted from this impressive list), how does one effectively use one’s time in the mere 4 days in which all of this is being crammed?
Some may choose to diligently schedule the entire visit – but they would run the risk of feeling like a complete failure each time a plan falls through (as it inevitably will).
Others may leave everything to chance, confident that for every mediocre event there will be an equally surprising and momentous one.
Other, more expert, festival goers may opt for a savvy combination of the two. Or they may have a whole new system as yet unknown to this naïve non-festival regular.
Whatever course of action one opts for, it is undoubtedly going to be an exhausting, exciting, stressful, disappointing, delightful and action-packed jaunt into Reeperbahn (the former red-light district) for Germany’s largest and most diverse club festival.
