2. Melodica-Festival Bonn

In the organizer's words:

The second Melodica Festival will take place in Bonn on December 7 from 3 pm.

Line-up: FREDA - LOW KEY ORCHESTRA - OAK - ROOSMARIJN - STEREO NAKED

Admission by donation!

Info about the festival philosophy:

Melodica Festival celebrates local music scenes around the world with the aim of providing an open platform for emerging artists to network and build new creative relationships.
An independent festival to strengthen the folk and singer/songwriter scene in the region. The organization of various Melodica festivals in different cities and countries should also facilitate contacts nationwide and internationally.
The artists play short sets of 30-40 minutes according to the principle "a shared stage results in a multiple audience". As a guest, you should arrive on time to get a seat.

History:
The Melodica Festival was started in December 2007 by Pete Uhlenbruch, a passionate musician who simply wanted to create a truly attentive space for other artists to perform and interact, and to foster a sense of community in an increasingly challenging industry.
Originating in Australia, the festival concept has spread across the globe and has also been taking place in various German cities since 2010. For example, Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg and Trier. Other international formats were also created during this time. Further festivals were held in Vienna, Groningen, Nottingham, Aarhus, Paris, Reykjavik, New York and Oslo.
A pandemic brought the network to a halt, but not to a standstill. A few festivals in Cologne, Trier and Reykjavik recovered and restarted in 2023 with the task of creating stages for a subculture that needs more attention.

Philosophy:
A small clarification is probably necessary here. It is a network of musicians that is neither run as an association nor commercially. Committed artists start an event in their cities and provide a fantastic festival on a voluntary basis.
This usually happens after a melodica festival has been held in another city. For example, Maik Iser, Stefan Honig (HONIG&ACCIDENTAL BIRD) and Fabio Bacchet (HELLO PIEDPIPER) organized the first Melodica Festival Cologne after the three musicians played shows at the Melodica Festival in Hamburg.
The Melodica philosophy involves making music together instead of next to each other, a close proximity to the audience and a warm atmosphere.
All Melodica festivals are free and dependent on hat donations, or the concept of "admission for a donation". Contrary to the ever worsening conditions for independent musicians and bands, the Melodica Festival relies on a voluntary and fair donation for the performances. This has proven to be a working concept since 2007.

Bonn - an experiment with great success and even more potential:
"Why not Bonn, actually?" thought Maik Iser, who was less and less able to visit the Cologne music scene due to his job, family and place of residence.
And so, with the experience and passion of recent years, a location and an initial line-up of musicians from the Cologne-Bonn region was quickly found.
The Rheinbühne, on the edge of Bonn's old town, was immediately on fire during initial discussions and was immediately on board. Thanks to funding from the City of Bonn's Department of Culture, the first beads of financial sweat were also quickly dried.
The premiere of the first Melodica Festival in Bonn turned out to be a success. Over the course of the evening, around 150 guests spread out in the Rheinbühne, some of them so packed that all the seats were taken.
The principle of "admission for a donation" also worked very well with the appreciative audience.
Enchanted by the condensed quality of the six acts, all listeners were able to keep the 2nd Advent in their memories.
The second edition of this wonderful little festival will now take place on December 7th.
From 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., five unique artists will perform on the Rhine stage in Oxfordstrasse.