Splash! is one of Europe's biggest hip hop and

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

s. It first took place in 1998, in the inner city of

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany a ...

, Germany. The next year, the location of the festival changed to the Oberrabenstein reservoir near the city, where it remained through 2006. In 2007 and 2008, the festival was held on the Pouch peninsula in

Bitterfeld Bitterfeld () is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2007 it has been part of the town of Bitterfeld-Wolfen. It is situated approximately 25 km south of Dessau, and 30 km northeast of Halle (S ...

. In 2009, the festival moved to the

Ferropolis Ferropolis, "the city of iron", is an open-air museum of huge mid-20th century industrial machines in Gräfenhainichen, a city between Wittenberg and Dessau, Germany. These can measure up to 30 meters high and 120 meters long, and weigh up to 1, ...

Gräfenhainichen is a town in Wittenberg district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Geography The town was the seat of the offices of the administrative community (''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'') of Tor zur Dübener Heide until it was disbanded in January 2011. It lies a ...

, which remains the official site. In the early years, there were two stages; one each for hip-hop and reggae. In 2006, the festival extended to six stages and four party tents. In addition to hip-hop and

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

DJs A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

, the tents also house

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

and

sound systems, a

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

contest and ITF matches. The name "Splash" hints at both the waterside location, and the phrase "to make a splash".

History

* 1998: The first Splash! was held, not as an open-air festival as originally planned, but in a former powerhouse in the inner city of Chemnitz. It was relatively small (and could be more accurately described as a

jam Jam is a type of fruit preserve. Jam or Jammed may also refer to: Other common meanings * A firearm malfunction * Block signals ** Radio jamming ** Radar jamming and deception ** Mobile phone jammer ** Echolocation jamming Arts and entertai ...

) and counted only 1,300 visitors and six performers, among who were

Afrob Robert Zemichiel (born 1 August 1977), known professionally as Afrob, is a German rapper and actor. Biography Afrob was born in Venice, Italy to Eritrean parents but moved to Germany at a young age. He grew up in the German city of Stuttgart, ...

and KC da Rookee. *1999 & 2000: Being held hillside on the Oberrabenstein reservoir, the 1999 festival attracted 13,000 fans, and in 2000, the festival had 20,000 visitors. * 2001: More than 30,000 tickets were sold in 2001, and the organizer limited the quantity of tickets for sale to 25,000 for the next few years, in order to stay true to the basic idea of the festival—party in a relaxing atmosphere and a high-quality lineup. * 2005 & 2006: Heavy rain led to declining visitor numbers, causing severe financial losses. * 2007: Donations helped to balance the losses of about 70% of 2006, and the festival organisation announced on 11 January 2007 that the festival will take place, not in Chemnitz but on the Pouch peninsula in Bitterfeld. *2008: Again hosted on the Pouch peninsula, performing acts for the 2008 festival included

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

Ice Cube An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...

, and

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. *2020: The Splash! Festival was canceled due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

pandemic. *The 23rd Splash! Festival is scheduled for 8–10 July and 15-17 July 2021. In July 2020, it was announced headlining acts would include

ASAP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper, music producer and record executive. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a membe ...

ASAP Ferg Darold Durard Brown Ferguson Jr. (born October 20, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Ferg (stylized as A$AP Ferg), is an American rapper from New York City's Harlem neighborhood. Aside from his solo career, he is a member of the hip hop collec ...

, and

Haftbefehl Aykut Anhan (born 16 December 1985), known by his stage name Haftbefehl (meaning "arrest warrant" in German), is a German rapper. He was signed to his own record label Azzlack, before signing with the label Echte Musik. Biography Haftbefehl wa ...

Financial crisis

The meeting of creditors in the insolvency proceedings was held on 9 January 2007. According to a Chemnitz newspaper, the debt amounted to over €500,000. The Splash! Entertainment AG asked for public help to be able to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the festival, an account for donations was opened additionally to a charity concert that had already taken place in November 2006, altogether reaching €325,000. After obtaining €350,000 through donations from both fans and artists like

Jan Delay Jan Phillip Eißfeldt (born 25 August 1976), known professionally as Jan Delay, is a German rapper and singer whose stylistic range includes mainly hip hop, reggae, dub and funk. An accomplished solo artist, he became known to the public as a ...

Samy Deluxe Samy Sorge (born 19 December 1977), commonly known as Samy Deluxe, Wickeda MC or Sam Semillia, is a German rapper and record producer from Hamburg. Early life Samy was two years old when his Sudanese father left Germany. Samy grew up with hi ...

or the

Dresden Philharmonic The Dresdner Philharmonie (Dresden Philharmonic) is a German symphony orchestra based in Dresden. Its principal concert venue is the ''Kulturpalast''. The orchestra also performs at the Kreuzkirche, the Hochschule für Musik Dresden, and the ...

orchestra, the organizers announced that the festival would be held, and also informed the public about the new location.

References

External links

Official website
{{coord, 50, 50, 13, N, 12, 48, 51, E, display=title, region:DE-SN_type:landmark_source:dewiki Events in Saxony-Anhalt Reggae festivals Summer festivals Hip hop music festivals Recurring events established in 1998 Electronic music festivals in Germany Music festivals in Europe