Honey Lake Sessions

A Festival Far from the Main Routes

The Honey Lake Sessions are a curated summer festival in Honigsee, a small community in the Plön district, just under 20 km southeast of Kiel. A meadow, a few trees, the Honigsee right next door — the festival organizers describe the location poetically: "Meadows and wide fields as far as the eye can see, the sun glitters in the trees." The festival has little in common with the classic, loud open-air format. It aims to be more intimate, closer to the artist-audience relationship, and curatorially well-thought-out.

Three Days, Nine Acts — International Program

The 2026 program brings together nine acts over three days, with a clear curatorial line between Indie, World Music, Jazz, and experimental pop music:

• Friday, July 3 — Kapa Tult (German indie-pop with a political edge), Soft Loft (Indie-pop from Berlin), and Conic Rose (instrumental jazz-pop)
• Saturday, July 4 — Lubiana (Franco-Cameroonian harpist and singer), Kolinga (Afro-soul from France), and Botticelli Baby (Modern Vintage Pop from Berlin)
• Sunday, July 5 — Sound of Joy with a performance of "Music of Sun Ra" (Jazz ensemble), Ketekalles (idiosyncratic Catalan pop), and Aysay (Norwegian-Kurdish folk)

Funding Structure and Volunteer Sponsorship

Honey Lake Sessions is supported by the non-profit Honey Lake Sessions e.V. and curated together with the renowned Handshake Booking. Funding from Initiative Musik and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) allows for a program quality that a purely commercial open-air festival of this size could not sustain. It is precisely what characterizes many small, curated music festivals in Germany today: volunteer sponsorship, public funding, artistic independence.

Honigsee in the Plön District

Honigsee is a municipality with only a few hundred inhabitants in the southern part of the Plön district. The region is part of the Probstei and the northern Holstein Switzerland — a gently rolling, lake-rich landscape. Visitors to the festival can combine their stay with excursions in the region: boat trips on the Großer Plöner See, hikes on the Selenter See, a stop in Kiel.

Travel and Tickets

The best way to get there is by car via the B404 / A21 towards Kiel — Honigsee is just off this route. From Kiel Central Station, there are bus lines towards Selenter See; a dedicated festival shuttle can be organized by the organizers (information at honeylake.live). Tickets are available through the TixForGigs platform.