The Bardentreffen (German for

bard In Celtic cultures, a bard is a professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's ancestors and to praise t ...

s' meeting) is an annual open-air music festival in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

, Germany. The first Bardentreffen took place on the 400th anniversary of the death of

meistersinger A (German for "master singer") was a member of a German guild for lyric poetry, composition and unaccompanied art song of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. The Meistersingers were drawn from middle class males for the most part. Guilds The '' ...

Hans Sachs Hans Sachs (5 November 1494 – 19 January 1576) was a German ''Meistersinger'' ("mastersinger"), poet, playwright, and shoemaker. Biography Hans Sachs was born in Nuremberg (). As a child he attended a singing school that was held in the churc ...

in 1976.

Setup

The venues are spread over the whole historical city and the event takes place on the first weekend of the school summer holidays in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. Starting with a more political approach including singer songwriter groups of the political left, the Bardentreffen grew into a more multicultural approach and has established itself as an important venue for professional and amateur bands of world music. There are no entry tickets, the city of Nuremberg and various sponsors take care of band fees and organization. Charly Fischer was head of the organization of the Bardentreffen for nearly 30 years and went into retreat 2014. Besides "official" sponsored gigs, a part of the city is open for amateurs.

Style

The background of the group is traditional folk, "Trends" and "experimental", however any band taking part has to mix own vocals and instruments, instrumental only and mere cover bands are not allowed. Venues comprise among others the Hauptmarkt, Lorenzer Platz, Sebalder Platz, the Schütt island and St. Katharina. Famous contributors include among other

Klaus Lage Klaus Lage (born 16 June 1950) is a German musician from Soltau, Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land ...

Konstantin Wecker Konstantin Alexander Wecker (born 1 June 1947, Munich) is a German singer-songwriter; he also works as a composer, author, and actor. Life and work Classically educated at the Wilhelmsgymnasium, Wecker got one of his first jobs as a songwriter a ...

, Mark Gillespie,

Alan Stivell Alan Stivell (; born Alan Cochevelou on 6 January 1944) is a French, Breton and Celtic musician and singer, songwriter, recording artist, and master of the Celtic harp. From the early 1970s, he revived global interest in the Celtic (specifically ...

Fiddler's Green Fiddler's Green is an after-life where there is perpetual mirth, a fiddle that never stops playing, and dancers who never tire. In 19th-century English maritime folklore, it was a kind of after-life for sailors who had served at least fifty ye ...

The Cat Empire The Cat Empire are an Australian jazz/funk band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1999. For most of the band's duration, the core members were Felix Riebl (lead vocals, percussion), Harry James Angus (trumpet, vocals), Will Hull-Brown (drums), ...

Barbara Thalheim Barbara Thalheim (born Leipzig 5 September 1947) is a Berlin-based German singer and songwriter. She celebrated the fortieth anniversary of her first stage appearance in 2013. Life Family background and early years Barbara Thalheim was born in ...

Kvitretten Kvitretten (1991-2001 in Trondheim, Norway) was a Norwegian vocal group, known for improvisation and a cappella music releases, concerts, television shows, and international tours. Biography Kvitretten was initially comprising arranger and c ...

Joan Armatrading Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, (, born 9 December 1950) is a Kittitian-English singer-songwriter and guitarist. A three-time Grammy Award nominee, Armatrading has also been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist. She received ...

Leningrad Cowboys The Leningrad Cowboys are a Finnish rock band who perform rock and roll covers of other songs. They have exaggerated pompadour hairstyles and wear long, pointy shoes. They often work with the Russian military band the Alexandrov Ensemble. Be ...

Donnie Munro Donnie Munro (Scottish Gaelic: Donaidh Rothach /dɔnɪ rɔhəx/) (born 2 August 1953) is a Scottish musician, and former lead singer of the band Runrig. A native speaker of Scots Gaelic, much of his work is in that language. Early life Munro ...

Vadim Kurilev Vadim (Cyrillic: Вадим) is a Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, Slovene masculine given name derived either from the Persian ''badian'' (anise or aniseed), or from the Ruthenian word ''volod'' (russian: волод), meaning ''to rule'' or ''vaditi ...

, Anne Clark,

Astrid North Astrid North (Astrid Karina North Radmann; 24 August 1973, West Berlin – 25 June 2019, Berlin) was a German soul singer and songwriter. She was the singer of the German band , with whom she released five Albums. As guest singer of the band s ...

and

LaBrassBanda LaBrassBanda is a Bavarian brass band originating from Übersee, near Chiemsee, Bavaria, Germany. The name of the band is a portmanteau of the Italian words "la banda" and the English term "brass band", both meaning the same. History of the b ...

. It is an official policy to provide a genuine mix of newcomers and established bands.

Special motto

In 2014, the festival used the motto "

war and peace ''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published ...

" referring to the centenary of the beginning of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Pippo Pollina Pippo Pollina (Palermo, May 18, 1963) born Giuseppe Pollina is an Italian singer-songwriter. He lives in Switzerland ( Zurich) and his music is known in German speaking countries (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) as well as in Italy. Even though ...

and

Aziza Brahim Aziza Brahim ( ar, عزيزة ابراهيم, born June 9, 1976) is a Sahrawi singer and actress. Biography Life She was born in 1976 in the Sahrawi refugee camps, in the Tindouf region of Algeria where her mother had settled in late 1975, fle ...

were among the most famous acts on the festival. The 2014 festival has been deemed the largest world music festival in Germany, starring 368 artists from 31 nations.Krieg und Frieden” – Pippo Pollina eröffnet Bardentreffen
franken TV 2014

References

External links

* {{coord missing, Bavaria Music festivals in Germany Tourist attractions in Nuremberg