Internationales Sommerfestival Kampnagel

A former crane factory as a festival city

Kampnagel is a unique place: a former crane factory in Winterhude (Hamburg-Nord district), converted into an international cultural factory since the 1980s. Around 12,000 square metres are spread across eleven halls, an outdoor area, rehearsal stages, and restaurants. During the Sommerfestival, the entire site is used — stages, foyers, the inner courtyard, catering, and bar merge into a cohesive festival cosmos.

Programmes between dance, theatre, music, and art

The Sommerfestival is consistently international and consistently contemporary. Around 20 to 30 productions per edition cover the entire spectrum: contemporary dance, documentary theatre, performance art, concerts, multimedia installations, spoken word events, and discourse formats. For decades, the theatre maker Amelie Deuflhard has been the house patron, and as the artistic director of Kampnagel as a whole, she is responsible for the programmatic line.

A European stage

Artists such as Marlene Monteiro Freitas, Florentina Holzinger, Mette Ingvartsen, Boris Charmatz, Faustin Linyekula, and Compagnie La Re-sentida have presented their most important works in Germany at the Sommerfestival. With its long festival runs over three weeks and its willingness to show productions over several days, the festival offers companies a scope that classical seasonal operations rarely allow.

Hamburg-Nord, Winterhude district

The venue is located in Winterhude, a green district in the Hamburg-Nord borough, within walking distance of the Stadtpark. Those arriving by underground train walk through quiet residential areas and suddenly find themselves in front of a large industrial hall — the transition is part of the festival experience. Restaurants in the courtyard and on the premises ensure that many visitors stay for the entire evening.