Before we talk about Hamburg festival MS Dockville, let's have a bit of a catch up.

Hamburg festival MS Dockville celebrates art and music

 

A little life update...

Guess who's back to blogging?! Sorry guys, I know I totally disappeared for a while but this chick has been off living her life, forging new connections, working  on creating some amazing content for you behind-the-scenes and, oh yeah, I was on holiday! I was away for three weeks and had a welcome break from schedules and more focus on getting creative. I'll be blogging all about the trip in due course, and will share everything I have been up to soon. Now, sadly my new job will be taking up a lot of my time and I will be cutting back on blogging. But I have some really exciting posts, some fab collaborations and photography that I am really proud of. Some of this is already up on Insta and I'm loving all the amazing feedback! If you haven't seen, please click here and give me a follow! I can't wait to share it all with you.

Hamburg festival MS Dockville celebrates art and music

A new collaboration

One exciting new collaboration I'm working on is a partnership with a new tourism project called, Come To Hamburg. The team work with bloggers and journalists to help promote Hamburg and all this amazing city has to offer. As one blogger who has just made the city her new home, I will now be working with Come To Hamburg on creating articles for their website. I will be reviewing restaurants, events and festivals on their behalf. I'm so excited to share some of this new project with you, and to be a part of a tourism project in this city. I can't wait to share more of Hamburg with you all, and to help others plan their stay. Last weekend, I attended Hamburg festival MS Dockville on behalf of Come to Hamburg and I wanted to share my review with you.

Hamburg festival MS Dockville celebrates art and music

Hamburg festival MS Dockville

The last of the glitter be hoovered up this weekend and I'm yet to wash the dust off my trainers. But it's time to admit, Hamburg festival MS Dockville is well and truly over. After a week of reminiscing and wishing I was back wandering Williamsburg in the sunshine instead of at work, I've finally accepted the festival is over for another year. This festival was the perfect way to spend one of the last summer weekends Hamburg has left this year. We made the most of it, especially with it being an event that took place south of the river and so close to where we live.

Hamburg festival MS Dockville celebrates art and music

Set against a backdrop of Europe's largest river island, the special location means that festival organisers place great importance on protecting the area and creating a sustainable event, which is something I can really get on board with.Attracting a crowd of 25,000 over the three days, the festival provided the perfect setting for a huge range of international talent to exhibit their talents, from artists and comedians, to DJ's and amazing live acts. The festival is a great example of the fact that Hamburg's nightlife is more than the famous stag-groups packaged Reeperbahn area of St. Pauli and locals & visitors alike can enjoy a proper festival atmosphere instead.

With a unique focus on art, the festival grounds were awash with creativity and vibrant colours in a culmination of the talent that has been on show at the site as part of MS Artville. This two week-long art exhibition took place before more than 100 bands and musicians, from the chart-toppers to the up-and-coming talent, took to the stage for the festival. It was easy to lose yourself in the festival atmosphere with so many amazing acts playing across 12 stages and with so many creative and vivid art spaces scattered across the grounds.

Hamburg festival MS Dockville celebrates art and music

Music

With so many stages and amazing acts, it was difficult to choose the highlights! I was very impressed with the range and selection chosen for the event. From the second I entered the festival grounds, I was drawn to The Nest, which quickly became a favourite as the DJ's spun disco beats. Some seriously standout sets from Camelphat and Technofrühstück who brightened up everyone's afternoon. At the opposite end of the festival, Machinenenraum overlooked the water for the perfect sunset spot. Over here we caught acts including Superorganism, Princess Nokia and Drunken Masters. Then later, sets by George Fitzgerald and Maribou State on the Sunday night.

Hamburg festival MS Dockville celebrates art and music

Grossschot was the main stage and boasted a wealth of international talent. From the UK's Everything Everything, to ambient Brooklyn group, Cigarettes After Sex who provided a perfect melancholy warm-up to Friday headliner, Bonobo. Musical phenomenon Bonobo AKA Simon Green used his unique sound to bring the crowd together. The following night was the big one – the whole reason why I had wanted to go to the festival.

Nick Murphy, AKA Chet Faker, warmed up the crowd ahead of headliners, Alt-J, the act we had been waiting for. Their choral compositions and haunting voices brought chills to the audience. Caught in the moment, we eagerly sang along to huge hits like Matilda and Breezeblocks. Without doubt, it was one of the most magical festival performances I have ever seen. I honestly had goosebumps and was singing along to every word. The stage rounded off on the Sunday with Olli Schulz who brought his own brand of music, politics and comedy.

Hamburg festival MS Dockville celebrates art and music

How was it?

Hamburg festival MS Dockville was a fantastic little event. Having attended as many as I have over the years, you quickly notice when things could be improved. But I was very impressed with how smoothly it ran and the organisers' push towards sustainability and creativity. It was more than just a music festival, it was a festival with principles and a poignant message behind it. So far I've found Hamburg to be rather lacking in the vegetarian and vegan department, but the food options were great at the festival and it was lovely to see different dietary choices were catered for.

However, the one issue I had was that the service at the bars left a little to be desired. Despite always taking care to approach the less busy bars, often we found ourselves waiting a long time. We even had staff forget to bring our drinks over after we paid! The service was very slow even when a bar was empty, which was frustrating wanted to head to the next act. Perhaps something to work on improving for next year, but other than that, I can't wait for the next event! MS Dockville, over and out.

Have you been to a German music festival? What is your favourite festival? What festivals have you been to this year?

Hamburg festival MS Dockville celebrates art and music