Festspiele MV – Island Tour to Hiddensee

The Annual Excursion of Festspiele MV

The Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is a decentralized summer festival that hosts around 120 concerts in about 90 locations throughout Mecklenburg-Vorpommern every summer — from churches and barns to castles and parks. The Island Tour to Hiddensee is a special event in the festival calendar: not a classical concert, but an all-day excursion that combines music, seafaring, and island culture.

From Schaprode to Hiddensee

The meeting point is Schaprode harbour (Hafenweg) on the west coast of Rügen — the main ferry terminal for the crossing to Hiddensee. From here, the Island Tour starts with a ferry trip across the Bodden to the car-free Baltic Sea island. On Hiddensee, guests can expect a short concert by a string quartet: in 2024, the Barbican Quartet played works by Schubert and Ligeti, including Ligeti's first string quartet, 'Métamorphoses Nocturnes'. The concert is followed by a joint lunch and a guided tour.

The Hiddensee Artists' Colony

Hiddensee has been a refuge for artists for over a century. The history of the artists' colony began around the turn of the century — the poet Gerhart Hauptmann first visited the island in 1885 and made it famous; after him, more and more painters, writers, and musicians came to the small Baltic Sea island, which became an secluded paradise for creatives. The guided tour as part of the Island Tour brings this history to life on site.

Schaprode and the Vorpommern-Rügen District

Schaprode is located on the west coast of the island of Rügen in the Vorpommern-Rügen district of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The small harbour town is the starting point for trips to Hiddensee and the Bodden waters. For the Festspiele MV, Schaprode is thus the gateway to one of its most atmospheric events.