A festival for the senses - this was the new Seekult x Lange Nacht der Musik Festival

While the sun bathes the sky in warm colors outside, calm, soulful pop fills the greenhouse of Blumenhaus Mayer. Christina Zeile and Moritz Colsman, two students from Zeppelin University, accompany the evening. Moritz sits at the piano, both sing, sometimes as a duet, sometimes solo. Somewhere between pop and soul, the music is calm yet haunting, it fills the greenhouse and fits perfectly with the summer mood of the evening.

A diverse audience mingles between colorfully illuminated palm trees and works of art from the Freie Kunstakademie Überlingen: students, alumnae and alumni who have returned to Lake Constance for the weekend, and many guests from Friedrichshafen. A relaxed and lively start to a festival weekend that brings together art, music and urban society.

Later, an exuberant crowd of cheerful visitors dances in the packed Glashaus. As soon as the sun goes down, people crowd close together and enjoy the music, which is just as diverse as the audience. From ballads to rock, it's all there. Acts such as the St. Columban youth choir and the rock band John Leon & Escalation embody the concept of the festival, which invited visitors to various concerts, workshops and more from April 30 to May 3, transforming the city into an interdisciplinary art experience.

Conceived as a joint event for the first time, this year's festival brings together art, music and urban society. Under the motto "A festival in your senses", the festival aims to challenge perceptions and build bridges between the city and the university, art and music, people and perspectives. Svenja Hoffmann, one of the two overall directors, emphasizes: "The connections are most important to us: not only between the festivals, but above all between the people."

The next evening, the backdrop looks completely different. Instead of fairy lights and festival hustle and bustle, everything here takes place in a darkened, plain room. Author Anne Freytag is considered one of the most exciting voices in contemporary literature. She takes a seat, opens her book and starts reading straight away. "I like to throw my readers right into the middle of the action," she says.

And that's exactly what she does with her audience that evening.

She takes the audience on a journey. On a yacht in the Philippines, with seven rich people who, at first glance, have everything: Success, money, the perfect relationship...and yet are torn apart inside. Freytag reads from her new novel "Blaues Wunder", which tells of the staging of the perfect life and what lies behind it.

But even for non-literature fans, there was more than enough program on Thursday to try out something completely new. Be it croissant baking, an acting or art workshop.

On the last evening, the festival moves to the Kulturhaus Caserne, a well-known location for students at Zeppelin University, which becomes something very special every time for the Lange Nacht der Musik. Two stages offer space for indie pop, jazz, rock and electronic beats. The audience dances under dozens of disco balls to acts such as The Sixters and Carlo5, while acts such as Luftschiffkapelle create an intimate atmosphere on the smaller Werkstattbühne stage or SHIMMER. gets the audience dancing. There is also a great atmosphere outside in the summer weather. People sit under the decorations sparkling in the evening light, taking a short break between performances, enjoying refreshments from the food trucks or spontaneously getting a tattoo from the UKIYO TATTOO ATELIER tattoo artists.

Despite some concerns in the run-up to the event, for example about the weather or the concept in the inner courtyard without an outdoor stage, the team was able to impress: "I was briefly worried about whether our concept for the inner courtyard would work, but then the weather held up and the audience was enthusiastic," says Hoffmann. "Some people even preferred the inner courtyard with its food trucks, graffiti workshop, tattoo artist and lounge area to last year."

It is an evening of encounters, both musical and human. Students, Häfler:innen, newcomer bands from the region and artists from all over Germany celebrate together. From the glittering silver decorations and the successful line-up to the awareness teams, who are always on hand if anyone is not feeling well: everything seems well thought out and lovingly implemented. The 19 students from Zeppelin University, who put the festival together without much previous experience but with a lot of love and commitment, are responsible for this. "I will always be impressed by the process of turning 19 people, some of whom were complete strangers, into a team, even if it was bumpy at times," says Hoffmann.