There are worse places on the Reeperbahn to end up with an empty wallet after a crash than Schmidts Tivoli. The Reeperbahn Festival will be opening there for the first time this year. The festival can no longer afford the rent in the Stage Operettenhaus, the traditional location of the opening, because it has already had to cope with significant cuts in the current budget due to the austerity policy of Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer (independent). Hamburg partially compensated for the surprising reduction in federal subsidies by a good one and a half million euros by doubling its subsidies to 1.66 million euros. The festival management closed the remaining gap of around 700,000 euros through cost-cutting measures. This included evaporating the opening ceremony, and other background measures complemented the package.
“All of this endangers Minister of State for Culture Weimer”
“Fortunately, visitors will not notice any of the savings this year, except for the opening, the program is not affected,” explains Detlef Schwarte, head of the Reeperbahn Festival, “but in the federal government’s draft budget for 2027, Europe’s largest club festival only has three million euros.” Alex Schulz, managing director of the supporting company RBX, adds: "With this amount, a halving of the funding from the perspective of 2025, the festival would no longer be the same. Since 2012, it has developed into both the most important German and international industry meeting - with long-term, reliable financing from Minister of State for Culture Monika Grütters (CDU), continued by Claudia Roth (Greens) and with the support of the Hamburg cultural authority. Minister of State for Culture Weimer is now endangering all of this without need."
According to Alex Schulz, the festival established by Monika Grütters would soon be irreparably damaged: "The festival strengthens Germany as a music location by offering a marketplace, especially for small and medium-sized companies. The federal government has invested many millions in it. If you scale it down so much over a short period of time, a lot of what we have built will be destroyed. Then we will not be able to maintain its function and importance."
Hamburg's cultural authority absorbed short-term cuts
Hamburg's Senator for Culture Carsten Brosda (SPD) replies: "Due to its relevance for the entire industry and Germany as a music industry location, the federal government has been significantly supporting the Reeperbahn Festival for many years and has already begun to significantly reduce its funding in 2025 compared to the previous year." Federal funding fell by a quarter in the period mentioned, from 8.2 million euros to just under 6.3 million euros. The Hamburg cultural authority was able to absorb part of the cut at short notice.
Brosda continues: "The reduction in funding to three million euros from 2027 in the draft budget presented by the federal government would mean a further sensitive cut in financing. Compensation for this further short-term and drastic cut from the Hamburg budget is not possible. This is not only due to the tense budget situation, but also because the federal funds guarantee support for the German music industry, which cannot be taken over by Hamburg alone."
It's about ensuring quality
The Senator for Culture is not yet giving up: "There remains hope that in the discussion of the federal budget there will still be opportunities to secure federal funding. I hope that the federal government will recognize the outstanding importance of the music industry and the Reeperbahn Festival as one of the most important global music events and a beacon of the German and European music industry. If the federal government's previous decisions are not corrected, there is a risk that Germany as a whole as a music location will be seriously weakened."
Meanwhile, for Alex Schulz, the relocation of the opening from the operetta house, which also received a lot of media attention, means a deterioration in the event: "Not everyone has to be a fan of the red carpet and the musical theater, but the opening there was already experienced as an appreciation, as a good opening moment. Now only half of the visitors can take part in the opening, which is a shame." Detlef Schwarte points out that the aim is to ensure quality at both the public festival in the clubs and open-air stages and at the industry get-together. The structure of the festival has already changed today.
Anna von Hausswolff in the Elphi – and six insider tips
Schwarte: "Of course we are also dependent on the quality of the program, on the appeal of the artists we present - because we also have to sell tickets with these offers. That's easier if you have a few well-known names in the line-up." According to the festival boss, advance sales are currently going just as well as in previous years. One of the better-known names is Swedish singer and pianist Anna von Hausswolff, who will perform in the Elbphilharmonie's large hall on Saturday, September 19th from 10:45 p.m. Before that, the Moses Yoofee Trio will play their hypnotizing jazz there from 7 p.m.
According to Schwarte, his insider tips from the festival include all six acts nominated for the festival prize, the Anchor Award. The award will be presented at a show on Friday, September 18th, from 6 p.m. in the St. Pauli Theater. Previously, the Australian electro-pop queer icon Big Wett and the French trio Dov'è Liana with their mix of French touch, Italo disco and house pop are vying for the trophy. Both candidates are deliberately keeping their real names secret. The Ukrainian musician Ganna Gryniva performs under her first name Ganna and impressively reinvents the folklore of her homeland as a composer, pianist and authentic jazz singer.
600 concerts and live acts
The up-and-coming British party and electro duo Just For Fun, consisting of singers Charlotte and Neave, can also be heard. The two take their audience with them in an unbiased and cheeky way. British-Ghanaian soul and R&B artist Nectar Woode writes and sings her own songs and will make her way, with or without an award. This also applies to Sonic Interventions. The transdisciplinary, futuristic jazz collective from Berlin won the German Jazz Prize as “Newcomer of the Year” last year after being nominated three times.
In total, the Reeperbahn Festival will offer 600 concerts and live acts in 90 locations from Wednesday, September 16th to Saturday, September 19th. As in the previous year, the organizers are expecting 45,000 spectators. Thousands of visitors are once again expected at the conference for the music industry and other areas of the event industry for lectures and discussions on current topics.
