Jazz City Bilk 2026

In the page's words:

The JazzCityBilk festival is taking place for the third time in May. It has once again expanded its program. Five days of jazz and related music.

The young JazzCityBilk festival has once again grown considerably. While the organizers were able to point to 15 events last year, there will be more than twice as many from 6 to 10 May. For five days, it's all about jazz and related genres, with music in pubs, churches, at the flea market, in halls and bunkers as well as in the open air. Bands from as far afield as Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Edinburgh in Scotland will be coming to play.

Big names adorn the program this time, from the Killerhorns from Edinburgh to Pablo Held and the Reiner Witzel Group with singer Jocelyn Nuhill, to the Italian saxophonist Matteo Raggi. The great Hildegard Knef will be commemorated in the Bürgersaal Bilk and the Metropol cinema, and in between you can expect the Creole Night Birds to make the district unsafe with jazz in various places.

A central point will certainly be the large stage on the church square, where four bands will jazz up the day on Saturday, May 9. In a narrative concert, Christian Brückner, the well-known dubbing voice of Robert de Niro, will dedicate himself to the work of Miles Davis in the Lutherkirche on Kopernikusstraße, supported by trumpeter Martin Auer and his quintet.

The ballet of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein will also be performing again. This year there will be a very special combination of dance, video and live music. Such a mix of genres is very typical for JazzCityBilk.

The new Bilk pub rally on Friday, May 8, is sure to be a big crowd-puller, when 13 bands and DJs will be creating a great atmosphere in various pubs, cafés and the Bilker Bunker.