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What's on in Germany: July 2016

The Local Germany
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What's on in Germany: July 2016
Berlin Pride celebrations. Photo: DPA

Beer, beaches and the BMX - here's what's coming up in Germany this month.

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Culture

Berlin Pride / Christopher Street Day (July 23rd)

A group of friends who are "all different" at Berlin Pride. Photo: DPA

The event is also called Christopher Street Day, or CSD, named after the first major LGBT demonstrations on Christopher Street, New York City in 1969.

It's an event celebrated in cities all over Germany throughout July, for example in Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Munich and Stuttgart.

CSD Berlin has taken place every year since 1979, and the capital city estimates that up to half a million people celebrate each year.

The day consists of two parts – the March and the Finale.

The March begins at midday in Berlin's Charlottenburg district and travels all the way to the Brandenburg Gate, with people allowed to join at any point on the way.

The Finale is a half-mile-long Pride Village at the Brandenburg Gate, with DJs and bands entertaining the crowd on two stages along with speeches from prominent LGBT speakers.

Indian Film Festival Stuttgart (Stuttgart, July 20th-24th)

Indian actress Manisha Koirala at Indian Film Festival Stuttgart. Photo: DPA

This is the 13th annual festival in Stuttgart celebrating Bollywood and Indian film. Features, documentaries and short films are shown, and you can also meet and greet the stars on the red carpet and after showings.

If Indian musicals make you want to get up and dance, you can! The festival also offers dance workshops so you can be the next Shah Rukh Khan. 

500 Years of Bavarian Beer Purity Law (Munich, July 22nd-24th)

Beer barrels at a brewery in Munich. Photo: DPA

This free-entry event is a 500th anniversary celebration of the Bavarian law regulating the ingredients allowed in the manufacture of beer. This rule was pushed nationally after the unification of Germany in 1871, and with some minor changes and exceptions it still stands to this day.

The event incorporates traditional Bavarian food and music, and visitors pay for various beers with Thaler, which was the currency for centuries across the former German states. Pay like a Bavarian, drink like a Bavarian.

Festival Essen Karibisch (Essen, July 21st-31st)

A boy playing volleyball in Essen. Photo: DPA

Apparently you don't have to fly outside Germany to find your own "Caribbean holiday paradise," as this festival describes itself. If you're looking for a taste of the sun this July, head down to the centre of Essen and find streets full of giant palm trees and white beaches.

This year the annual festival features exciting beach volleyball and limbo tournaments as well as a treasure hunt for kids.

It's a given that there'll also be authentic Caribbean food and sunny cocktails.

Music

Klassik Open Air (Nuremberg, July 24th)

The stage at Klassik Open Air. Photo: Franconia/Wikimedia Commons.

The first instalment of this famous classical music concert takes place on July 24th in Nuremberg's Luitpoldhain park, attracting a varied audience of non-typical listeners.

The outdoor concert is free, and according to the website, nearly a third of the visitors tend to be 19 to 25 years old. 

It's far from a typical classical concert, and there is an "informal picnic atmosphere", so if you've never seen a Grammy Award-winning orchestra, this is the perfect place to start!

Melt! Festival (Ferropolis, July 15th-17th)

Kylie Minogue performing at Melt! Festival in 2015. Photo: DPA

About a one-hour drive from Leipzig, and a two-hour drive from Berlin, this annual music festival takes over the former mining site of Ferropolis (the Iron City), and it attracts huge acts from all over the world. The focus of the festival is "breaking the boundaries between quiet and loud, electro, hip hop and indie, mainstream and subculture".

Notable acts from previous years include Kylie Minogue, Portishead, Oasis, Björk, La Roux and Scissor Sisters.

Get packing, because this year's Melt! line-up features indie legends Disclosure, Tame Impala and Chvrches along with underground British acts Skepta and Jamie xx.

Sport

snipes BMX Cologne (July 2nd-3rd)

A BMXer soaring through the air at the Cologne tournament. Photo: DPA

Another free event, this two-day tournament is one of the world's landmark BMX tournaments.

Competitors range from amateurs wanting to get their names out in the world to seasoned BMX veterans.

The motto, 'Celebrating BMX', is based on providing entertainment to all sorts of people, and not necessarily just hardcore extreme sports fans.

The reason that the event is free is "so that everyone – hardcore fans, beginners, interested on-lookers and families – can have the possibility of celebrating BMX sport together with us,“ explains Stephan Prantl, German BMX champion and organiser of the event, in a statement.

Euro 2016

A Public Viewing at the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin. Photo: DPA

With the tournament in full flow, make sure you head to a Public Viewing of any match to soak in the electric atmosphere, the camaraderie and the beer. Maybe you'll even appear on TV when Germany wins the final!

These locations were hot-spots two years ago for World Cup football-watching, and are all hosting Euro events this year. Go Deutschland!

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