Berlin was the final destination of the international Lollapalooza festival, an annual 2-day event packed with music and fun that took place over the weekend of 7-8 September. During the summer, it had already travelled through the United States, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, France and Germany.
Among the international singers and groups performing at the event were this year’s young revelation Billie Eilish and the Grammy-winning duo, Twenty One Pilots.
With one of the festival’s two European events being held in Paris, it is no coincidence that the Lollapalooza organizers decided to stage the second in Berlin. While the German capital’s history has ensured it is well-known around the globe, it is also a major political, artistic, cultural and leisure hub that hosts one of the most important cinema festivals in the world, the Berlinale, which makes it an unmissable tour destination for international music stars.
It is precisely this, great music, that plays an essential role in Berlin: my time there was underscored with rhythm, not only thanks to the great performances at the festival held in the Olympic Stadium, but because the city itself IS music. It is impossible to wander the city streets without coming across an artist singing or playing an instrument, or watching improvised performances by small street dance groups.
However, I also came across great music beyond the festival and the streets as it was easy to find at Gat Point Charlie: eating breakfast while I listened to smooth jazz, sipping a drink after dinner while I watched projections of concert recordings on the wall, or even the background music in the hotel’s common areas.
The fact that great music follows you around all day in Berlin makes the city an even more fantastic place to be.
Mar Jiménez
Hotel Gat Point Charlie guest.