Nürnberg Pop Festival

Nürnberg Pop Festival — when music breaks out of concert halls

The Nürnberg Pop Festival is the most musically ambitious festival in the Franconian metropolis and the most important club and showcase festival in southern Germany. What makes the festival unique is its spatial concept: not a central festival stage, but decentralized venues in Nuremberg's Old Town — churches, museums, record stores, fashion boutiques, rooftop terraces, squares, clubs, and cultural centers. For three days, the Old Town transforms into a tour map with unusual stage points.

Nuremberg — Franconia's Cultural Metropolis

Nuremberg, with around 540,000 inhabitants, is Bavaria's second-largest city and one of Southern Germany's most important cultural metropolises. The Old Town, with its medieval city walls, the Imperial Castle, the Hauptmarkt, and its many churches, forms a historic backdrop that the Pop Festival consciously uses as a stage — modern pop music meets Gothic and Renaissance architectural settings.

~100 Artists from Two Program Waves

The 2026 festival was announced in several waves:

• 1st Wave (December 2025) — first confirmations, including Orbit and the duo Cari Cari
• 2nd Wave (during 2026) — over 22 more acts newly confirmed, including: Sprints (Irish post-punk band), Aaron (Austria), Gringo Mayer und die Kegelband, Panicbaby, Magda (Austria, with recently sold-out concerts)

Ultimately, the festival expects around 100 performers. This makes Nürnberg Pop a showcase festival that presents both established acts and emerging newcomers from German-speaking countries and internationally.

Extraordinary Locations — the Old Town as Festival Grounds

The choice of locations is part of the festival's core identity:

• Churches and sacred spaces — for intimate concerts with special acoustics
• Museums — concerts amidst exhibits
• Record stores — intimacy in a boutique atmosphere
• Fashion boutiques — new venues not typically used for music
• Rooftop terraces — concerts above the rooftops of Nuremberg
• Public squares — Hauptmarkt, Lorenzkirche, and other central locations
• Clubs — Z-Bau and other established Nuremberg clubs
• Cultural centers — KuNo (Kunstort Nürnberg), Tafelhalle, and others

Accompanying Formats — Conference, Award, Sounds

The Pop Festival is more than just a concert festival. Running parallel to the music program:

• POP CONFERENCE — panels, talks, and workshops on the music industry, industry issues, and newcomer support
• GUNDA Pop Culture Award — presentation of an award for outstanding contributions to pop culture
• NBG SOUNDS 2026 — accompanying program of the Nuremberg music scene

Southern Germany's Most Important Showcase Festival

With its mix of decentralized locations, showcase character, and industry formats, the Nürnberg Pop Festival is one of Europe's leading showcase events — comparable to the Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg, c/o pop in Cologne, or MENT Ljubljana. It is a meeting point for the music industry in the southern German and Austrian regions, as well as a platform for newcomers from German-speaking countries.