There’s plenty to do for teens, kids and grown-ups this summer in Luxembourg as the city ramps up its programme of fun for the holiday period.
Whilst traditional events like the Blues’ n Jazz Rallye, Kinnekswiss Loves and Schueberfouer have been cancelled once again this year, many of the individual activities that are such an important part of these celebrations will take place this summer up to 12 September, as part of the second year of D’Stad Lieft.
If you miss live music, you can also catch the many acts at Rotondes’ Congés Annulés, EchterLive and Op der Schmelz.
If you have been itching to catch a live music act, now is your chance with several outdoor venues open around the city, and in the towns of Dudelange, Mondorf and Echternach.
Once home to a castle, but now a green space, Mansfeld park in Clausen welcomes local and international bands for more than 20 open-air shows (limited to a capacity of 150 people). Tickets cost €12 and attendees must wear a face mask for events. Seats will be reserved until the start of the concert and glass bottles are not allowed.
On 23 July there will be a blues night with Roosevelt Collier from south Florida with his pedal steel guitar. Originally a singer with his uncles and cousins, he’s known for giving spirited, soul-shaking performances, with lightning-fast slide work on the pedal steel, and songs featuring blues, gospel, rock and funk.
If Jazz is more your music, then the Luxembourg Jazz Orchestra is playing on 27 July for a Big Band evening of old-school swing to hard-bop. There’s a Latin A Capella Night on 28 July featuring Vocal Sampling, an all-male group of six. The series of concerts finishes with a Soul, Blues & Funk night on 4 August from Bai Kamara Junior, a Belgium singer-songwriter with roots in Sierra Leone, who has collaborated with Youssou N’Dour.
No sooner does Kino um Glacis pack up its big screen and sofas (read our article on this US style outdoor cinema and the line-up of films), then City Sounds in conjunction with den Atelier takes centre stage in a line-up designed to appeal to young people. There will be comfy seats and a standing area for those wanting to dance, with tickets individually priced.
A Tribute to the Beatles kicks off the festival on 6 August, followed by Meute on 7 August. Meute is an 11-piece techno marching band from Germany whose music is arranged by well-known DJs. Belgian singer-songwriter Axelle Red takes the stage on 8 August and fellow Belgian and Eurovision Song Contest entry for the country in 2015, Loic Nottet on 9 August. Gentlemen on 10 August and Sido on 12 August are already sold out but you can still get tickets to see Majan (Stuttgart’s answer to Post Malone) on 13 August.
Concert tickets for City Sounds and Klangbuer can be booked at www.luxembourg-ticket.lu.
If that’s not enough music in the city, Rotondes are also hosting the Congés Annulés festival including a special project by Francis of Delirium, concerts from Seed to Tree, This is Kit, International Music and Team Picture, and DJ sets from A Boy Named Seb and Bartlebeegees.
You can also view a summer exhibition in collaboration with Casino Luxembourg entitled Brave New World Order featuring young, emerging artists.
A city tradition since the 1980s, these concerts provide classic music enthusiasts the chance to enjoy a musical interlude at noon, held on selected Fridays. You can listen to traditional and more ground-breaking classical music for free, although you must book tickets in advance as numbers will be limited. The Nora Braun Trio take the stage on 6 August, ARS NOVA on 10 September, and Naama Liany on 24 September.
Outside of the city, you can catch live music organised again by Den Atelier at Echter Live, at Dudelange Op der Schmelz, and Mondorf-les-Bains
Op der Schmelz – Catch Zeltik 2021 on 24 July, outdoor cinema including the Black Widow from 29 July to 1 August, Nura on 3 August and Michael Schulte the day after, plus live Jazz.
Echter Live includes a number of live music acts organised by den Atelier plus the e-Lake festival taking place 6-7 August in the Orangery in Echternach.
Unlike Schueberfouer where all the rides are in one place, this year’s funfair rides will be dotted about the city at 10 locations offering smaller rides, family-friendly attractions like hook-a-duck, shooting ranges, and other games and food stalls until 12 September.
You’ll find them at:
Place de la Constitution, Place du Puits Rouge (Roude Petz), and Villa Vauban open from 11.00 until 22.00. In the Gare area at Place des Martyrs, Place de la Gare and rue de Strasbourg from 11.00 until 20.00 and in Place Jeanne d’Arc, Place de Roedgen, Laval Park, Merl Park and Place Thorn operating from 11.00 until 20.00.
The municipal park will be home to 20 historic attractions dating from the period 1886 to 1960, decorated with fairy lights. Step back in time to ride on a 1902 Ferris wheel, or a carousel from 1886, and the Schiffschaukel from 1921.
There will also be sideshows including a balloon shooting booth from 1920, a puppet theatre, acrobats, street performers, and entertainers in period dress, a comedy stilt-walk act, an old-fashioned photographer and a magician Zauberer Cornelius.
Teenagers can once again head to Glacis in Luxembourg City when the live music has ended for some thrill-seeking rides from 21 August to 12 September, 11.00 to 23.00. In fact there’ll be a total of 42 rides, games and stands including the world’s largest portable rollercoaster – the Olympia Looping, with five vertical loops. You can also try the world’s largest family rollercoaster – the Alpina Bahn, plus the Big Splash, Booster Maxxx, Hangover the Tower, and the Twister Maxi Jump.
There are also attractions for younger children such as duck fishing, a toboggan, and aqua boats, and plenty of games such as the aqua blaster, Euroball, and derby race. This is your chance to also sample some funfair treats including sweets, waffles, burgers and chips.
Set up in the courtyard of the former Luxembourg National Library you’ll find an outdoor library open to all. Settle under a tree to enjoy a book or magazine, or play a game with the children (which you can purchase from Mai klenge Spillbuttek). Entry is free and there is no reservation required but capacity is limited. You can also take part in themed nights and listen to readings.
Theatreplage is back again this summer at Place du Théâtre with a giant 350 square metre sandpit, and the chance to pull up a deckchair in a shady spot under an umbrella, play petanque, grab a beach toy, build a sandcastle or eat ice cream. Open until 12 September from 10.00 until 22.00.
There’s a week-long food festival from 18-22 August, and a comic arts festival from 24 to 29 August, with a chance to meet Sabrina Kaufmann, Lucien Czuga and Andy Genen, plus a diversity festival from 31 August to 5 September and a travel one from 7-12 September.
The city’s streets will be decorated with colourful lampshades, strung overhead or mounted on giant street lamps for a bit of whimsical fun, and you can visit a mini Schueberfouer model of the traditional funfair, complete with illuminations and functioning rides, on show in a funfair-themed pop up store. Entry is free and without reservation and you’ll find it at 43 Grand-Rue in the city.
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