Bonn Rocks and Grooves

Bonn Rocks and Grooves

by | Jun, 2025 | EN, Events, Music

Most people think of Beethoven and classical music when they think of Bonn, but Bonn also has a lot to offer in terms of other genres of music.

Back in the 60s and 70s, Bonn was a hotspot for music, and even Queen, who were still unknown at the time, performed at the Club Underground. Other bands also made this music club famous. Even though the Underground had to close after only three years and other so-called beat clubs also did not survive, the spirit of that time can still be felt in the city today.

Bonn has numerous pubs where live bands perform (e.g. Kater 26, Session, Namenlos, Mausefalle 33 1/3… and many more). Every Thursday, Session hosts a jam session with local blues musicians that is definitely not to be missed! Music performances are also becoming increasingly common on small stages such as the Rheinbühne and the Pantheon.

A special highlight in Bonn-Endenich is the Harmonie. This music hall-style venue hosts live performances by artists of various genres from September to May. If you’re interested, take a look here. Even WDR Rockpalast still records concerts in this great hall, where photos on the walls show which music greats have played here.

The outdoor music season generally starts at the beginning of May with ‘Rhein in Flammen’ (Rhine in Flames) where several stages ensure that everyone from hard rockers to lovers of Cologne music get their money’s worth. And it’s free and outdoors, like so much else in Bonn.

The concerts in the beer garden of the Parkrestaurant Rheinaue are also an integral part of the Bonn summer, with cover bands performing almost daily from mid-July to the end of August and Latin music on Sundays. More information is available here.

The Bonn City Garden offers a wide variety of musical events in August.

In August, the younger generation can look forward to the two-day Green Juice Festival with indie, pop, rock and a colourful supporting programme.

At Jeck im Sunnesching you can see people in carnival costumes parading through Bonn in the middle of summer!

The big names in music can be found at Kunstrasen. From BAP (sold out) to Lynnard Skynnard and Deichkind, there are some high-quality concerts.

In Bad Godesberg, don’t miss ‘Musik im Park’ and Musik unter der Zeder.

In Beuel, established musicians and up-and-coming artists perform at ‘Musik auf der Treppe’.

Bonn has music in every corner and city council even has a representative for rock and pop! This list is certainly not exhaustive and is influenced by the author’s age and musical taste 🙂 So, music lovers will get their money’s worth in Bonn, and why not combine a concert with a Greet?

It’s hard to imagine Bonn without the cherry blossoms!

It’s hard to imagine Bonn without the cherry blossoms!

by | Apr, 2025 | Bonn Sights, EN, points of interest, tradition

In the first phase the white-flowered cherries, such as the plum cherry in Wolfstraße, Franzstraße or in the Rheinaue, bloom. After that it takes about 14 days for the thick pink-flowered Japanese flowering cherries (especially in Breite Straße and Heerstraße) to delight the eye.

How did Bonn get these magnificent cherries in the first place? In the 1980s, the Old Town (which is actually the Nordstadt and was only renamed ‘Old Town’ for tourist reasons) was redeveloped. Traffic was forced to slow down and Japanese cherries were planned to provide a splash of colour. The cherry trees were a gift from the Japanese government to Bonn and the city planner Brigitte Denkel made sure that they were planted. The cherry blossoms symbolise the friendship between Japan and Germany.

In many cultures, cherry blossoms have a special symbolic meaning, especially in Japan, where they are a symbol of beauty, transience and new beginnings.

On weekends there is also a flea market, design market and food market, which attract tens of thousands of people on the streets. All the shops, cafés and pubs in the area are prepared for the crowds. Those who prefer it quieter come during the week, in the morning or evening. Night photos of the cherry blossoms are also worth the visit after hours.

If you don’t want to plunge into the hustle and bustle, you can find Japanese cherry trees in Beuel, for example, on Professor-Neu-Allee or in the Rheinaue park.

My personal favourite cherry blossom spot is a small avenue in the Rheinaue near the Japanese garden: these cherry trees were donated by a Japanese choir that performs Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’ every year with about 5,000 singers. The cherry trees were a gift in honour of Beethoven’s birthplace. Beethoven is as revered in Japan as the cherry blossom, but that’s another story…