Singing Pub – Irish-Scottish Folk Festival Haßbergen (DE)

This small but extremely fine Irish-Scottish folk festival has been a popular open-air event in the summer at the historic Old Chapel for more than three decades. It is a meeting point for many music fans during the holidays. The outdoor area around the Old Chapel is once again a place for cheerful celebrations and dancing. In ‘Höltjes Garten’ you can enjoy a large seating area and more. The 34th Singing Pub opens its doors at 6 p.m. Festival visitors are greeted with drums and pipes by the Essern Highlanders.

Guinness, Kilkenny, Whiskys and Whiskeys

The meeting point in the Nienburg district has been a guarantee for a cheerful and entertaining evening with original Guinness and Kilkenny on tap for 34 years. There are also Irish specials such as “Snake-Bite” and “Irish-Flag” and a selection of good Irish and Scottish whiskys (without an ‘e’ since it’s Scottish) at the whiskey bar (with an ‘e’ since it’s Irish).

Spaß-Highlandgames mit Willi

The Höltje family’s Chicken Meadow (formerly the Hühnerwiese) is hosting“Spaß-Highlandgames mit Willi“, where guests can compete in the Irish national sport and win whiskey as the main prize. After the drums and pipes, a singer-songwriter will get everyone in the mood for the open-air pub atmosphere. There will be a pinch of Irish folk, but also evergreens and well-known pop songs and ballads.

Old Chapel Five

Afterwards, the house band “Old Chapel Five” will heat things up with songs by Ed Sheeran, The Coors and The Pogues, but there will also be traditional melancholic ballads such as “Caledonia”. The seven-person band will appear with singer Jenny Dreyer, Katharina Wesemeier (fiddle), Niklas Gödeke on keyboards, Tom Kraeft (guitar) and Sam Känner (drums), Wilfried Bruns (vocals, bass) and Heiko Mönch (vocals, tin whistles).

Musical highlight – Acting The Maggot

As a musical highlight, the pub team – after their furious performance in 2022 – has again invited the Irish folk band “Acting The Maggot”. The six musicians from the Netherlands have an extensive repertoire of the most famous Irish rock, pop and folk songs. Banjo, violin, guitar, accordion and drums are played professionally by one of the best folk bands from the Netherlands. The band started in 2013 as a theatre project founded by several professional musicians. In recent years, Acting The Maggot has performed at many festivals in the Netherlands and across Europe. They even toured China and played at the Great Wall of China in Beijing. The bands will play a short music session together at the end, before everyone starts singing the iconic “Auf der Reeperbahn”. The festival is sponsored by Sparkasse Nienburg, the daily newspaper Die Harke and Avacon Nienburg.