Strengthening local culture
Music, cultural participation, and vibrant communities
Culture in rural areas is an important factor for quality of life, social cohesion, and the appeal of towns and communities. Fête de la Musique shows how public spaces can become places of encounter through live music, cultural diversity, and volunteer engagement.
Whether a village square, marketplace, park, church, or community hall — Fête de la Musique creates low-barrier access to culture and enables cultural participation for people of all generations. At the same time, it strengthens local networks, supports musicians, and fosters cultural life in local communities.
The Fête de la Musique national network is committed to strengthening culture in rural areas and highlights good practice examples from municipalities and regions. Together, we promote cultural diversity, civic engagement, and a vibrant music culture throughout Germany.
Promoting culture in rural areas
Focus areas:
Live music in towns and communities
Cultural participation for everyone
Volunteering and local networks
Music as a driver of social cohesion
Sustainable development of cultural venues
BarCamp Day with Team Future
What happens when cultural spaces in rural areas disappear? And what emerges when young people, initiatives, and cultural creators take action themselves?
Fête de la Musique Germany, together with Team Future Greifswald, organized a BarCamp Day in Greifswald. At its center was the question of how culture in rural areas can be preserved, rethought, and shaped by young people themselves.
The BarCamp day offered an open space for exchange, discussion, and networking. Various sessions addressed the loss of youth and subculture venues, the lack of open spaces for music and encounter, as well as concrete ideas for how new cultural structures can emerge. One thing became clear: culture in rural areas needs participation, visibility, and new forms of collaboration.
The BarCamp format allowed for spontaneous topic selection, flat hierarchies, and genuine co-creation. This gave rise to a lively exchange about how cultural infrastructure in rural areas can be strengthened and the future actively shaped.
We asked Maike and Theresa from Team Future:
Who is Team Future?
Team Future — that's all of us. We came together because important cultural venues in Greifswald have shut down, and we don't just accept that. We want to pitch in together, talk to one another, and make a real difference together.
Why does this matter?
Everywhere, the places where we meet, celebrate, and express ourselves freely are disappearing. With every club, bar, or youth culture space that closes, a piece of subculture in rural areas is lost.
We want to push back against that: creating spaces for exchange, making ideas visible, and developing new perspectives for youth culture and music in rural areas. Because this scene belongs to all of us — and its future is shaped by us, together.
L-R: Maike Münstermann and Theresa Steigleder (Team Future), Bettina Martin (Minister for Science, Culture, Federal and European Affairs of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), and Morena Piro (Fête Germany)
Pinc Music
Thorsten from Pinc Music
This video was made around the 30th anniversary of Fête de la Musique Berlin.
Pinc Music is the platform for inclusive music, giving visibility to bands, choirs, orchestras, DJ teams, and solo artists with and without disabilities. The goal is to strengthen cultural participation and create more performance opportunities for inclusive acts.
Fête de la Musique Germany and Pinc Music share a common mission: making diversity, participation, and inclusion visible in music life. Together, we're committed to ensuring musicians with disabilities are a natural part of Fête de la Musique stages, making the musical diversity of our society tangible.
Living Diversity
Cultural diversity, equal opportunity, and participation in music
Fête de la Musique stands for an open, diverse, and democratic music culture. Music connects people across generations, backgrounds, genders, life realities, and abilities. As a free festival in public space, the Fête creates encounters and enables cultural participation for everyone.
The Fête de la Musique national network is committed to diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity in the music and event industry. The goal is to break down barriers, make different perspectives visible, and promote active participation in shaping cultural life.
A diverse music culture not only strengthens social cohesion but also enriches the artistic offering and creates new access points for musicians, organizers, and audiences.
Our focus areas:
Gender equality and gender equity
Cultural diversity and intercultural openness
Inclusion and accessibility
Equal opportunity in the music and cultural industry
Representation and visibility of diverse perspectives
Cultural participation for everyone
Discrimination-sensitive event planning
Music Family Hub
"Fête de la Musique stands for what we advocate for every day: music connects — people, generations, worlds of experience. Parents, caregivers, everyone juggling between the stage and everyday life naturally belongs. We believe in a music world that leaves no one behind — and we're delighted to be part of this wonderful network."
The Family Music Hub is a network for female musicians and music educators dedicated to exchange, networking, and family-friendly structures in the music field.
Fête de la Musique Germany and the Family Music Hub share a common mission: improving the compatibility of family and career for female musicians. Together, we give visibility to musicians with family caregiving responsibilities and strengthen their participation in music life.
Photo: Manuel Krug
Nanja and Pamela (l–r) are mothers themselves and advocate for a family-friendly
music industry
Celebrating safely and respectfully
For an open, discrimination-free, and respectful event culture
Music brings people together. For all visitors, musicians, volunteers, and staff to feel welcome and safe, a culture of respect, consideration, and responsible interaction is essential.
Fête de la Musique stands for openness, diversity, and cultural participation. It creates spaces of encounter where people of different backgrounds, generations, genders, and life realities can experience music together. A respectful event culture helps break down barriers, counter discrimination, and enable participation for everyone.
The Fête de la Musique national network supports organizers in creating inclusive, discrimination-sensitive, and safe events. By sharing experiences, practical recommendations, and good practice examples, it helps establish conditions that foster respectful and appreciative interaction.
Focus areas:
Respectful event culture
Discrimination-sensitive event planning
Protection against harassment and exclusion
Diversity and participation at cultural events
Safe spaces for visitors and artists
Anti-discrimination and equal opportunity
Respectful encounters in public space
Photo: Carolin Klemm
The Future of Live Music and the Music Industry
Support music. Strengthen talent. Safeguard culture
Live music creates encounters, strengthens social cohesion, and enriches cultural life in towns and communities. At the same time, musicians, organizers, festivals, and venues face a range of challenges — from rising costs to changing leisure habits to attracting new talent and securing skilled professionals.
Fête de la Musique makes the importance of live music visible and offers a stage to artists of all generations and genres. It strengthens local music scenes, creates performance opportunities for emerging talent, and fosters networking within the music and event industry.
The Fête de la Musique national network is committed to the future of live music and a diverse music economy. Together with cities, organizers, musicians, and partner organizations, we advocate for good framework conditions, cultural diversity, and sustainable prospects for the music industry.
Focus areas:
Future of the live music industry
Music economy and Germany as a music hub
Talent development and support for emerging artists
Skill-building for amateur musicians
Festivals, venues, and cultural spaces
Visibility for musicians
Networking and knowledge transfer
Cultural participation through live music
Strengthening local and regional music scenes
Sustainability
Shaping culture responsibly
Sustainability is a key challenge for the future of cultural events and music festivals. It encompasses ecological, social, and cultural responsibility, helping to make events viable for the long term.
Fête de la Musique promotes conscious use of resources, encourages sustainable mobility, and strengthens cultural participation and social cohesion. As a free festival in public space, it creates low-barrier access to music and culture and supports the sustainable development of local cultural offerings.
The Fête de la Musique national network supports organizers on their path toward more sustainable events and fosters the exchange of experiences, ideas, and proven best practices from within the network.
Focus areas:
Sustainable cultural events
Ecological sustainability in the event sector
Climate protection and resource conservation
Sustainable mobility
Social sustainability and cultural participation
Sustainable festival and event concepts
Responsible use of resources
Future-proof cultural work
Birte (Green Fête Berlin), Julia (Fête Potsdam), and Morena at the Green Culture Festival of the Aktionsnetzwerk Nachhaltigkeit (Sustainability Action Network).
Greener Fête Berlin
"Cultural events in public space are far more than places for celebration and encounter. They can provide impetus for socio-ecological transformation, foster participation, and show how sustainability can be put into practice. With the Greener Fête de la Musique Berlin, we tested how sustainability can be anchored even within a complex event format spanning over 300 decentralized music venues. We want to bring the tools, experiences, and good practices we developed into the nationwide Fête de la Musique network and work together toward a future-proof event culture in public space."
Foto: Matthias Barone
Dr. Birte Jung, expert in sustainable culture and events in public space, and initiator of Greener Fête de la Musique
Die Greener Fête de la Musique wurde 2019 ins Leben gerufen, um Nachhaltigkeit als festen Bestandteil der Fête de la Musique Berlin zu verankern. Ziel des Projekts ist es, Veranstaltende dabei zu unterstützen, ökologische, soziale und kulturelle Nachhaltigkeitsaspekte systematisch in die Planung und Durchführung ihrer Veranstaltungen einzubeziehen. Die dabei entwickelten Erfahrungen, Instrumente und Good Practices aus einem stadtweiten Netzwerk von über 250 Fête-Musikorten stehen dem gesamten Fête-de-la-Musique-Netzwerk als Orientierung und Inspiration zur Verfügung. Mit der Greener-Fête-Charta wurde zudem eine freiwillige Selbstverpflichtung geschaffen, mit der Veranstaltende, Musikorte und Unterstützer ihr Engagement für eine nachhaltige, inklusive und zukunftsfähige Fête de la Musique sichtbar machen können.
Music Declares Emergency
"Rarely has so much moved us as a music industry at once as it does now: the existential threat of the climate crisis and the necessary fight for global justice, all while societal values are shifting in worrying ways. Fête de la Musique impressively shows how we can actively push back against this. It opens up vibrant spaces for culture, inclusion, and community in public space. These places of encounter are more important today than ever. For Music Declares Emergency, this sense of connection is the foundation on which we can all build together to protect our habitats. We are convinced that music, and the fantastic artists who create it, have the unique power to lead by example, take a stand, and spark the change that's needed."
