Dear media partners, dear colleagues,
In today’s press release we are announcing the publication of the timetable, which provides an overview of the times and places of all festival and conference events confirmed so far. And we’d also like to shine a spotlight on one of the central themes of this year’s programme: “Raise Your Voice”, which includes a variety of events that focus on the subject of music and political engagement.
Frehn Hawel
Hamburg, 24 August 2017
For many, it’s THE news item: The timetable for Reeperbahn Festival 2017 is online! Effective immediately, the dates, times, and venues for all festival and conference events confirmed so far can be viewed on our website and in our mobile app!
Current developments in today’s world have led once again to an increased politicisation of society. In the days leading up to the German federal election on 24 September, Reeperbahn Festival will be looking at the positions pop artists and those in the music industry are taking when it comes to music and political engagement. Under the heading “Raise Your Voice”, we’ll be presenting a series of discussion sessions with prominent speakers.
Pop is (and always has been) political. Bands and artists have addressed important sociopolitical issues in their songs, and since the 1960s pop music has provided the soundtrack, as well as support, for major social transformations. Nevertheless, when those in the entertainment world – including musicians and businesses in the music industry – stand up for what they believe in, they are often subject to public criticism. Why that is and what the music world can do to raise its voice and take a stand without coming across as inauthentic – this is something that will be explored in several panel discussions.
At the panel „Musik Bewegt – Wie geht Haltung?“ artists Herbert Grönemeyer (photo), Ingo Pohlmann and Fetsum, and representatives from the relief organisations Sea Watch, Doctors Without Borders, and Viva con Agua will discuss the relevance and impact of social and political engagement.
Another session in the “Raise Your Voice” programme is titled „Pop Goes Politics“. Fetsum, who came to Germany as a refugee, will also be speaking at this event. He launched the PxP (Peace by Peace) Festival, a benefit festival in support of children in war zones and fleeing war. Joining him in this discussion about protest and political engagement in the pop world will be Heinz Ratz, who along with Konstantin Wecker founded the Büro für Offensivkultur (Office for Proactive Culture), and Carolin Albrecht, who organised the Global Citizen Festival, which took place on the eve of the recent G20 summit in Hamburg and featured performances by a number of music stars, including Herbert Grönemeyer.
And at the “Music in the Middle East” discussion, artists Shahin Najafi from Iran, who has a fatwa death sentence issued against him, and Yasmine Hamdan from Lebanon will talk about the influence of art in a region dominated by crises and war. Joining them on stage will be Martin Goldschmidt, founder of Cooking Vinyl, one of Europe’s leading indie labels. In 2016, Goldschmidt founded PMX, the Palestine Music Expo, to raise awareness of the territory’s cultural heritage and to support local musicians.
In addition, the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (German Federal Agency for Civic Education) will be at the festival presenting a number of events on the topic of pop and politics.
All festival and conference events can be found on the Timetable on our website and in our app (iOS and Android).
and Inferno Events GmbH & Co. KG.
Neuer Pferdemarkt 1, 20359 Hamburg
www.reeperbahnfestival.com
PhG Reeperbahn Festival GbR: Inferno Events GmbH & Co. KG und Karsten Jahnke Konzertdirektion GmbH;
Gf: Alexander Schulz / U-I-Nr.: DE247756458
PhG Inferno Events GmbH & Co. KG: Inferno Events Verwaltungs GmbH;
Gf: Alexander Schulz, Detlef Schwarte / U-I-Nr.: DE 210469759
