Summer flair meets harbor love

The summer will be urban, colourful and typical of Hamburg: live music with a maritime backdrop, open-air film and literature festivals, evening walks with a view of the shining harbour, a cool beer on the Elbe beach, plenty of flea market treasures to discover, street art and festivals in the local districts. Dive into Hamburg’s cultural scene, let the sun tingle your skin, feel the festival wristband on your hand and enjoy the maritime, multifaceted and party-loving Hamburg summer flair.

Live music in the open air

At last there will be live music in the open air again! Hamburg will be a city of music once more this summer. Franz Ferdinand, Element of Crime, Norah Jones, Gregory Porter, Gianna Nannini, Helge Schneider und Max Herre & Joy Denalane: the line-up for this year’s Stadtpark Open Air concerts from 17 May to 13 September is highly impressive! Take in the famous open-air stage at Hamburg Stadtpark and the exuberant party atmosphere.

SPEKTRUM puts contemporary beat culture at the center of the action on August 2: the festival invites you to explore the traditions and transgressions of the diverse hip-hop scene. This year, SPEKTRUM is bringing DISARSTAR, OG KEEMA and APSILON to the stage alongside many other artists.

If you want to shake a leg for three days between harbour flair and industrial charm, Hamburg Wilhelmsburg is the place to be: From 15 to 16 August, the MS Dockville brings together music and art on twelve stages and at numerous stands. The latest beats and sounds are presented here across genre boundaries, with a focus on indie, hip hop and electronic music. Raye, Good neighbors and Peter Doherty are among the first names to be released on the 2025 line-up. For more favourite artists and newcomers, check out the line-up so far here.

Club scene & nightlife

A beer in the Schanzenpark, dancing the night away in clubs along the Hamburger Berg or at Hans-Albers-Platz, sipping a cocktail above the city’s rooftops. Whether at the Reeperbahn, Schanze or a beach bar: Hamburg will make the summer nights sparkle!

In Hamburg, we let the evening pass by over beer and cocktails with friends, and whoever wants to go dancing later on is certain to find what they like in the city’s clubs! Open air, regional classics and craft beer are all available in the Schanzenviertel at Braugasthaus Altes Mädchen, tasty drinks can be sampled in the huge number of bars, Aperol Spritz and other delicacies are served along the Großen Freiheit while the evening sun and a cool beer can be enjoyed at the various beach bars in the middle of the city.

The Reeperbahn Festival is certain to get the whole of St. Pauli rocking from 17 to 20 September! Europe’s biggest club festival attracts plenty of international artists and party lovers to Hamburg, and to the wide-ranging indoor and outdoor programme offered by the Hamburg club scene.

Text art at the harbour, on rooftop terraces and in the Stadtpark

Text artists at unusual locations: literature will take to the stage in Hamburg on rooftop terraces, in the Stadtpark and at the harbour. Under the motto "Speaking Pictures", the Literaturhaus Hamburg has been showing how mature comic art has become since 2012. This year, the Hamburg Graphic Novel Days will once again invite international and local artists of the ninth art to talk and put stars of graphic literature in the spotlight. The festival takes place from 03 to 06 March.

Those who would rather be seduced into the cosy corners of the Schanze, St. Pauli and the Gängeviertel for some literary browsing can simply follow the 2-dimensional peng words of the Hamburg Comic Festival. From 03 September to 05 October, the festival presents national and international comic artists in a colourful and interactive festival programme. Let's go, cast off: the slam and literature scene is looking forward to sweetening your city trip to Hamburg with wit and humour!

Urban Art, international food culture, flea markets and street festivals

From January to April, there were already four readings at Kampnagel as part of the Performative Book Fair. From 14 to 18 May, the actual Performative Book Fair will take place for the second time, in which literature and performance will meet and the literary industry will be questioned by marginalized authors, publishers, activists and academics.

From 05 to 08 June, visitors can also gain an insight into the work and developments of Hamburg's cultural scene at the Fringify - Independent Arts Festival Hamburg: Hamburg's independent scene has created a stage for its artistic positions and works and is thrilling its audience. The developments of the scene are presented and discussed: its aesthetics, its contents and its structures. The festival offers visitors the opportunity to immerse themselves in Hamburg's art and culture scene and to experience new encounters.

Those who want to meet the latest street food trends, a colourful band programme and the whole of Hamburg on the streets will find themselves at the Hamburg Hafengeburtstag (birthday of the harbour) from 09 to 11 May. For the 836th time, Hamburg is hosting the largest harbour festival in the world. The grand parade along the Elbe, concerts on the harbour mile and a colourful programme for the whole family make the Hafengeburtstag a major maritime event. This year's Cruise Days once again invite you to spend some wonderful hours at the port: from September 12 to 14, experience the ocean liners up close, including a varied supporting program, and immerse yourself in the fantastic light installation of the Blue Port from September 10 to 28.

Based on the values of diversity, tolerance and openness, the altonale dresses the districts of Altona and Ottensen in a colourful festival dress from 27 June to 06 July. The altonale invites visitors to get to know the district's culture and international artists, to stroll through the flea market, and to meet artists from the fields of literature, theatre, film, music and dance. On the last weekend of the altonale, the cultural festival STAMP - The Street Arts Melting Pot - creates space for urban art, artistry and dance and thus a celebration of international art in public space.

The Duckstein Festival in Hamburg's HafenCity will also be up close and unplugged. Art, culture and culinary delights come together to create an atmospheric, urban summer experience: On the design mile, artisans offer their jewelry, food trucks sizzle international cuisine, plus a freshly tapped beer! The festival is expected to take place in July.

The International Summer Festival at Kampnagel is not to be missed! Contemporary art from all over the world is presented on the former factory site in Hamburg. For this purpose, the site is transformed into an art leisure park, which shows everything the contemporary, global art scene has to offer with a variety of drink and food offers and in a relaxed summer atmosphere. The opening takes place on 06August - the programme extends over three weeks and ends on 24 August.

Film festivals & open-air cinema

This year, FILMFEST Hamburg will show the whole spectrum of cinematic art from 25 September to 04 October. The programme selection is impressive - many films of the 2022 festival edition can now be found on renowned long and short lists worldwide. Which stars and starlets will come alive on the screens at this year's festival has yet to be announced.

Film fans will not miss out in Hamburg after the summer months either. From 14 to 19 October, the Hamburg International Queer Film Festival will take place. The festival is Germany's oldest and largest queer film festival and presents filmmakers from the LGBTQIA+ community in all their diversity. Every year, the event attracts around 15,000 visitors to the cinemas in Hamburg and invites them to exchange and celebrate with a dense supporting programme.

Travel is food for the soul! It’s time for a city trip that inspires you and broadens your horizons in a summery, urban atmosphere. Time for live music, dancing, street art and culture festivals. Time to meet other people again and experience some new Hamburg moments!