The Puls Festival was always a guarantee of success. The concert spectacle of the young wave of Bavarian Radio, often with the hippest stars of the next generation, was always sold out weeks in advance. This time there are still tickets available, including at the box office. What’s going on all of a sudden?
It probably isn’t the fault of the artists, they are mostly well known to Puls listeners. They are hand-picked by the editorial team, and the program even says under each one: “We are fans because…” For example, with the Hamburg rapper 2Lade, who acts like a Marvel comic hero because he has “more unique selling points than sunglasses.” . Or with the queer Berliner by choice, Instagram heroine and “German Billie Eilish” Becks, because with her “an incredible amount of courage meets an incredible amount of talent”. This is how it continues with the sometimes “most exciting”, sometimes “most exciting” artists in the country, from Mavi Phoenix to Babyjoy to Fuffifufzich.
But Puls consciously makes some things different this year, a little more uncomfortable. In the past, guests could simply go to the BR-Funkhaus and be entertained for a night, but this year they have to look for venues all over the station district, from the NY.Club to the Cucurucu and the Wombat’s City Hostal. In perspective, this is also due to the fact that the BR studios are scheduled to be demolished at the end of 2024 and are now used a little more sparsely. But what is much more important for project manager Christoph Lindemann is: “We want to network more with cultural institutions, even outside our bubble, that have been doing excellent work for years on the topics we are focusing on this time.”
These are, for example, the creators of the “Mary Klein” series, who have created a “safe space” in the techno scene for people from the LGBTQ community; they will be playing at the Rote Sonne club. Or there is the bar Prygoshin, which shows “what cultural diversity can look like” with trap evenings and indie readings, says Lindemann. For example, refugees from Refugio’s art workshop will perform here. Refugio also offers a dance workshop in the Funkhaus: Shaya Navid teaches the internet-famous choreography of the Ekbatan Girls, who risked their lives and danced for women’s freedom in Iran.
Uncomfortable but important topics from mental health to racism and fake news to marginalized minorities will be discussed in panels, workshops, activities and a reading starting at 3 p.m. in the afternoon, because Puls wants the guests “not just to dance, but also to bring action”. And “after the panels comes the party,” but only with artists “who take a stand.” Like the Hamburg rapper Ansu, who only performs where there is an awareness team because of the toxic masculinity in German hip-hop.
Puls Festival, Saturday, November 4th, from 3 p.m., information and program at pulsfestival.de