Osterbrook, Not Easter
Hamburg has a talent for nicknames, and Osterbrooklyn is one of the better ones. The festival takes its title from Osterbrook, a quiet pocket of Hamm-Süd beside the Bille — a canal-side neighbourhood of rehearsal rooms, brick and dyke paths that has been answering to “Brooklyn” among locals since the first edition in 2017. You will not find Williamsburg. You will find a volunteer stage on the old fire-brigade square (the Löschplatz am Billebecken), with the water just beyond the grass and the rest of the city a bus ride away.
That is the point. Organised by the non-profit BOOT e.V., the weekend grew out of a concert series that gives musicians from the surrounding practice rooms a first public gig. Punk, cello, singer-songwriters and whatever else fits the bill share the same small open-air. In 2025 the festival picked up the Stadtkultur audience prize. In 2026 it joins the Hammer Sommerfestival for the first time, and it has moved from September into late August.
Two Free Days on the Bille
Osterbrooklyn No. 9 runs on Friday 21 August (from 4 p.m.) and Saturday 22 August 2026 (from 2 p.m.), both until about 10 p.m. Friday’s bill includes Skampi, the Bille Rebels, Knarf Rellöm’s Akestra with Nixe, and Atik Yomin; Saturday brings Karma Bar, We Smile, Salut with Oli Wehrling, Turbolent and Georg auf Lieder. Entry is free; a donation keeps the volunteer crew in food stalls and PA. Please leave your own picnic at home — drinks and snacks on site are how the weekend pays for itself.
Come by bus or bike. Take bus 112 towards Osterbrookplatz, get off at Schadesweg and walk about 300 metres along Schadesweg; the Löschplatz is straight ahead. Osterbrook is a residential corner with no visitor parking, and the organisers are politely firm about that. For more information, visit the official Osterbrooklyn website.
Dates:
Friday 21 August and Saturday 22 August 2026. Friday from 4 p.m.; Saturday from 2 p.m. (both until about 10 p.m.)
Address:
Löschplatz am Billebecken, Hammer Deich / Schadesweg, 20537 Hamburg-Hamm
Getting there:
Bus 112 towards Osterbrookplatz, alight at Schadesweg, then about 300 metres along Schadesweg. No visitor parking — bike or HVV.
