If we want to know and enjoy the “ultimate” in dark culture, whether its gothic, dark, electro, ebm, darkwave, death rock, and so on, the place to be is Germany, especially in spring and summer, where there are two of the most important festivals on the worldwide dark scene, Wave Gotik Treffen and M `era Luna.

The first of these festivals has been around officially since 1992 in the city of Leipzig, just an hour and a half from Berlin. In the first edition of Wave Gotik Treffen there were more than 200 bands playing all styles and genres of dark music, and more than 20,000 people from around the world came to witness the event. The public has grown over the years and it has become an attraction for thousands of tourists who visit the city annually between the 20th and 24th of May.

The festival is now the most important event in the Goth subculture and organizes events of interest for all sorts of fans of the Goth subculture as well as others: there are works of theatre, classical music, baroque, opera, medieval, themed parties, on more than 12 sites which are distributed throughout the city during the 4-day festival.

The festival M `era Luna takes place in the city of Hildesheim on August 7th and 8th. If you are interested in travelling to Germany, take a stroll through the beautiful city of Berlin and rent apartments in Berlin to enjoy excellent music and all the attractions of dark culture before setting of on your dark adventures. This year will feature bands like Placebo, The Sisters of Mercy, Nitzer Ebb, Skinny Puppy and 31 other bands featured in the two scenarios from the exhibition “Flugplatz Hidesheim – Drispenstedt”, a former Army base that is just outside of the city and has all the necessary amenities to house the two-day festival.

Prices of both festivals are very economic, 80 euros for the Wave Gotik Treffen and in the case of M `era Luna, 70 euros for both days. The connections for both cities from the capital Berlin are very good and the hotels and camping areas within the precincts of the festivals have everything you need to be comfortable and to enjoy a pleasant stay. Camping during the festival costs extra.

Germany is the centre of global dark and gothic culture and its festivals are a treat, with excellent organization and the best shows on the worldwide scene.