Festival season is upon us, and in Germany there are many music festivals happening both in the big cities and more remote locations. In addition, many musical artists are on tour, filling stadiums and smaller venues alike.

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Due to the international nature of the topic, a lot of the vocabulary in this lesson is adopted from or similar to English, but not all! And even when a word derived from English is used, you still need to know the appropriate gender in German. 

Mit seiner Konzertagentur erhielt er den LEA in gleich drei Kategorien: für die beste Stadion-Tour des Jahres, das beste Festival und die beste Show.

With his concert agency he received the LEA in as many as three categories: for the best stadium tour of the year, the best festival, and the best show.

Captions 54-55, Live-Entertainment-Award: Glamouröse Preisverleihung

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Das Konzert war großartig, denn die Band war fantastisch.

The concert was great because the band was fantastic.

Caption 14, Deutsch mit Eylin: Konjunktionen

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Der letzte Auftritt der Band war im Februar auf einer Hochzeit.

The band's last gig was at a wedding in February.

Caption 11, Coronavirus: Drei Musiker geben Ballonkonzert über Cloppenburg

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Vor kurzem hatten wir ein kurzes, aber knackiges Revival, haben gespielt bei einem Open Air.

Recently, we had a short but sweet revival, played at an open air festival.

Caption 21, Deutsche Bands: Cabanossi

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The more formal word for "the ticket" is die Eintrittskarte, but it's very normal to use the English word, which is neuter: das Ticket. 

Ich denke, die Tickets sind ausverkauft.

I think the tickets are sold out.

Caption 9, Nicos Weg: Theater und Konzerte

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Festivals generally have a number of stages, each with their own lineup.

Bist du lieber auf der Bühne oder vor der Kamera?

Do you prefer to be on stage or in front of the camera?

Caption 86, 1Live: Nina Chuba im 1LIVE Fragenhagel

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Ja, wir haben in diesem Sommer ein erstklassiges Programm in der Musik-Arena .

Yes, this summer we have a first-class lineup in the music arena.

Caption 7, Das Tollwood-Festival: BAP und Clueso in der Musik-Arena

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Certain festivals may involve camping, and in Germany this can mean dealing with rain and mud. But not always, of course!

Was auf diesem Campingplatz wohl schon für Freundschaften entstanden sind?

What kinds of friendships might have started at this campground?

Caption 40, Golden Oldies in Wettenberg Musik, Motoren Modetrends

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Peppa springt auch gerne durch den Matsch.

Peppa also likes to jump through the mud.

Caption 54, Peppa Wutz: Einkaufen und mehr

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Further Learning
Have a look at our "Musicians" category on Yabla German, or check out the websites of music festivals in Germany.

When talking about time in German, one word that is often found alone or as a root is das Mal. Not to be confused with das Mahl, which means "the meal," das Mal without an "h" means "the time" in the sense of "the instance." You've certainly seen sentences like this on Yabla German:

Bis zum nächsten Mal.

Till next time.

Caption 53, Abendessen: mit Marko

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There are a number of words that employ this word as a root to express a more specific relation to time. For example, einmal means "once," and so einmalig is an adjective that describes something that happens only once, or is exceptionally unique. 

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Diese Ansprache, die gibt es ja normalerweise nur einmal im Jahr.

This address is usually only given once a year.

Caption 3, Coronavirus: Kommentar zu Angela Merkels Rede

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Wir haben heute eine einmalige Aktion vor uns ...

We have a one-time special ahead of us today...

Caption 6, Coronavirus: Drei Musiker geben Ballonkonzert über Cloppenburg

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Ja, also wir bauen einen Baum auf, der ist drei Meter fünfzig hoch, das ist so... so einmalig.

Yes, well, we put up a tree there which is three meters fifty tall, that's so... so unique.

Captions 11-12, Weihnachten geht baden: Tannenbaum unter Wasser

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You may have also seen erstmal, which means "first," temporally speaking. If something is erstmalig, it is happening for the first time (zum ersten Mal).

Und dieser Boden ist hier in Darmstadt in der Centralstation ja erstmalig in Deutschland im Einsatz.

And this floor is here in Darmstadt in the Centralstation  is in use for the first time in Germany.

Captions 1-2, Organic Disco: Tanzen gegen den Klimawandel

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Now let's look at ehemals/ehemalig and damals/damalig, which both refer to the past. You'll see these words translated in different ways on Yabla, but often with "back then," "at the time," and "former," depending on whether an adverb or adjective/adjectival phrase is required. 

Es war damals irgendwie total uncool, ein Auto zu haben.

It was somehow totally uncool to have a car back then.

Caption 33, Deutsch mit Eylin: Menschen beschreiben

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Und die damalige Geschäftsführerin hat den Sender hier rübergebracht ... 

And the former managing director brought the station over here... 

Caption 52, Rhein-Main-TV: Interview mit Edmund Stössel

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In Pforzheim steht nach Angaben des Betreibers das einzige DDR-Museum auf ehemals westdeutschem Boden...

In Pforzheim, according to accounts of the operator, stands the only GDR museum on former West German soil...

Captions 7-8, DDR zum Anfassen Ganz tief im Westen

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Rund viertausend Besucher kommen jährlich nach Pforzheim, um etwas über die ehemalige DDR zu lernen.

Around four thousand visitors come yearly to Pforzheim to learn something about the former GDR.

Captions 39-40, DDR zum Anfassen Ganz tief im Westen

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Further Learning
Build some sentences with einmal, zweimal, dreimal, and viermal that describe how often you have been to certain places or how often you do certain tasks during the week. Then look for examples of damals, ehemals, damalig, and ehemalig translated on Yabla German to get a sense of the nuances.