There are many large alternative music festivals in Germany, especially for electronic music. If you are into industrial-electro or goth music, Germany has something to offer you as well. Some of the biggest festivals there are Wave Gotik Treffen, Mera Luna and Amphi Festival. Amphi Festival is similar to Mera Luna but takes place in a different location and caters more to industrial dance.
The history of Amphi Festival started in 2005 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. The first year of the festival saw over 4,000 people, the folloing year it was determined that the original venue: “Amphithreater” was no longer big enough and it was moved to Cologne’s Tanzbrunnen. The name remained and the crowd nearly doubled in size to 7,500 in 2006. Since then, the event has seen levels near capacity, over 16,000 people per day.
What draws this large crowd? The festival is more like a rock concert than other alternative electo events. There is a large outdoor main stage and a large indoor stage as well. Bands play at both times throughout both Saturday and Sunday in late July. People come from all over the world because Cologne is a unique city that loves music and because it has established itself as the biggest event for industrial dance in the world.
People who go fall into many different sub genres. These include: goth (mainly older dark rock fans), cyber goths (younger, more colorful electronic music fans) and many shades in between. The venue is located next to the Rhine River and you can see it as well as the famous Cologne Dom from the festival. People travel from all over the world because it draws such a big electo-industrial following.
Amphi Festival is one of the biggest events for electro industrial in the world. In the United States and Canada the biggest similar event can only get around 300-1,000 people while Amphi can easily get over 15,000 people. Some bands that play at Amphi are: Aesthetic Perfection, X-RX, Combichrist, Nachtmahr and Blutengel. Check out these bands if you want to understand what type of music is played at the event.
If you plan to go to Amphi Festival, make sure to get your ticket in advance. One thing a lot of people try to do before the event is attend a pre-party at Eisfabrik. It’s difficult to get tickets for that event so, make sure to go in person to get them.
Amphi Festival is a great event that anyone into industrial/ electro music should attend. No matter if you stay at the camp site or in a hotel, you are going to be able to get to the event. At night, the club is often until around 4 AM so you should have plenty to do.