Festival Maritim

Germany’s Festival Maritim is one of the largest, international maritime music festivals in the world.

Vegesack. Finally “Festival Maritim” again in the north of Bremen: celebrated for three days.  Thousands of visitors on the Weser and in the downtown the variety of “Sea Music”. More than thirty international bands and groups demonstrated their stylistic range from traditional shantys and work songs to rousing folk punk and Heavy metal. There was also a lot of singing away from the seven stages: in the mornings, as usual, traditionally in the pedestrian zone and on the Weser, after the official end of the program in pubs and Hotels.

“It’s just incredibly beautiful Festival,” says organizer Fritz Rapp from Vegesack Marketing late on Saturday. Even from the for the Public inaccessible catering tent Loud chants can be heard behind him, although the musicians gathered there have already completed their official performances for the day have long since completed. After two years pandemic-related break is Vegesack from Singing fever seized – at least for a weekend.

“This is already our fourth appearance on this festival – if you look at our impromptu performances last night in a pub counts,” shares the Polish song group “Brasy” on Saturday afternoon with a smile on her listeners on the Vegesack balcony with where on Friday the Dutch Harmony Glen Group Hundreds of visitors had excited. are on Saturday evenings the seats in front of the three main stages are crowded with revelers, including again and again numerous musicians who cheer on their international colleagues.

This is the spirit of the Festival Maritim: “I I hear again and again from artists and visitors how beautiful the backdrop is directly at the Weser and how unique the Festival Maritim is in Europe,” says FritzRapp almost exuberantly – rightly so, like the good atmosphere on and in front of the stages indicates. After the forced break, visitors and artists seem equally willing to be, to celebrate the festival and the music with all one’s might.

It worked on the opening Friday at least in the cooler evening hours, as if the audience’s interest in the festival had waned somewhat over the forced break, so that many bands and groups – with
few exceptions – just once ago had to play half-filled courts – an impression, however, on Saturday suddenly changed.  The organizational team from Vegesack Marketing led by FritzRapp showed up once again skillful hand and a high stylistic tolerance in the compilation of the bands. While more than twenty song groups and choirs uphold traditional shanty music, modern ones also perform on the main stages in the evenings to hear playing styles. This is how the Argentinians pair “Triddana” with classic forged heavy metal with bagpipe sounds; the Belgians “Bugul Noz” follow a similar knitting pattern – albeit essentially darker. The Swiss group “Tortilla Flat” intones mostly well-known folk and Rock standards with the coolness of the punk rock greats “Social Distortion”. The Dutch “Pyrates” and “Harmony Glen” impress with their musical symbioses of tradition and modernity eye-catching stage outfits. “Muirsheen Durkin & Friends” from Arnsberg gave well-known standards a fun polka-punk touch.

Play with traditional sea music numerous international song groups such as “Paddy’s Passion”, “Les Brouilleurs d’Ecoutes”, “High Germany”, “Aqua Marina”, “De Kaapstander” and many more with acoustic instruments or just with them Vote the entire district – on the Stages, as “walk acts” in the pedestrian zone and on the ferries in the middle derWeser, which, according to Rapp, decisively characterize the “European flair” of the Festival Maritim.  The organizer answers the question about his personal festival highlight: “The highlight is once more the complete program, which is only in in its entirety to the Festival Maritim makes what it is.” — Die Norddeutsche, Monday 8 August 2022.

The Festival Maritim is an international music festival with maritime music directly on the Weser, on the maritime mile in Vegesack. Fritz Rapp was the mastermind behind the scenes for more than two decades.  Watch the German language video here.