c/o pop Festival

Cologne-Ehrenfeld as the Pop Culture Capital

Anyone walking through Cologne-Ehrenfeld in April will quickly realize that something special is happening: Stickers on lampposts, posters on facades, queues in front of inconspicuous doors. This is the c/o pop Festival — a neighborhood festival that has grown over the years, turning Ehrenfeld's live venues into a stage for the international pop and indie scene. Since 2004, c/o pop has been considered Germany's most important festival for pop, indie, hip-hop, electronic, and singer/songwriter music — a mix of SXSW vibes and Cologne down-to-earthness.

Festival, Convention, Special Events

c/o pop consists of three pillars that complement each other:

• Festival: over 120 acts on more than 30 stages, spread over four days and four nights. You walk from concert to concert, many venues are within walking distance — Ehrenfeld is compact.
• Convention: two days (April 16th–17th, 2026) of industry conference with panels featuring labels, bookers, publishers, streaming services, and political actors. A must-attend for anyone working professionally in pop.
• Special Events: Opening with Fuffifufzich at Schauspiel Köln, c/o nonstop (24h program), showcases, talks, artist interviews.

Lineup 2026 — Pop, Indie, Hip-Hop, Spoken Word

The lineup is consistently curated, mixing current German and international acts. In 2026: LGoony (German cloud rap), Ebow (queer-feminist hip-hop), Levin Liam (German indie-pop), Paula Engels (singer/songwriter), and over a hundred other artists. The program is continuously updated at c-o-pop.de/programm.

c/o nonstop and Neighborhood Character

A special feature: c/o nonstop, a 24-hour program that occupies selected venues around the clock. A must-do for the hardcore fans who want to go through the entire festival weekend. Furthermore, a large part of the Ehrenfeld concerts are free — you don't buy an admission wristband, you just go in, watch, stay, or move on. This low-threshold accessibility makes c/o pop unique and allows bands from the subculture to test their live skills in front of a real audience.

Pop and Politics

Unlike purely mainstream festivals, c/o pop takes a political stance: topics such as the promotion of women in music, queer representation, social justice, the climate crisis, and EU copyright are regularly part of the convention. The festival thus has a progressive identity that is valued in the industry — and appeals to an audience that wants more than just "watching concerts".