Barbershop Music Festival 2026

»A CAPPELLA LOVE« is the motto under which numerous choruses and quartets will gather in the Historische Stadthalle Wuppertal from 12-15 March 2026 for Germany's largest barbershop event. Experience the German Barbershop Championships and let yourself be carried away by exhilarating performances and the unique barbershop a cappella sound in the evening shows on Friday and Saturday.

BMF is now almost sold out. Tickets are still available for the Westminster Chorus concert with The Newfangled Four on Thursday, 12 March 2025.

We are looking forward to a great a cappella festival with singers from all over the world, because in 2026, together with the German Barbershop Championships for choruses and quartets, the World Mixed Barbershop Championships will finally be held again, bringing together the best mixed quartets and choruses in the world in Wuppertal.

The Barbershop Music Festival 2026 is all about love - love of music, love of brilliant entertainment and love of giving you a fantastic and impressive time. Come along on a journey and feel the fire that burns in over 600 passionate singers. This is a cappella music that touches the heart! You can find a review of 2024 below with the videos from BMF 2024.

Look forward to incredible vocal artistriy, breathtaking emotional highlights and captivating performances!

On Thursday we will start with the traditional get-together, on Friday the semi-finals of the quartets will take place (German Championships and World Mixed in one competition with separate scoring) followed by part I of the German and World Mixed Barbershop Chorus Championships. Saturday will see the Chorus Championships part II and the German and World Mixed Quartet Finals. On Saturday evening, we look forward to the Show of Champions, before bringing the weekend to a close on Sunday morning.

Information about the participating ensembles, the jury, our guest ensemble and more will follow. We will regularly add the latest information here - check back from time to time!

World Mixed 

BinG! has been organising the World Mixed Barbershop Championships since 2012. After a break due to the pandemic, we can finally welcome the best mixed ensembles in the world for the fifth time in 2026. In recent years, many great mixed barbershop choruses and quartets have emerged, enriching the barbershop world. We look forward to welcoming you to this stage in Wuppertal.

The contest will be scored by a double panel of BHS judges. The winners of the World Mixed quartet and chorus contest respectively will be invited by the BHS excecutive director on behalf of the board of directors to compete at Internationals. (BHS Contest Rules C1g / G1h)

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How to get there

Wuppertal is easy to reach from many German railway stations.

Due to construction works, the high speed trains will unfortunately not be stopping in Wuppertal in March. Local trains (RE/RB, S) will continue to take you to Wuppertal Central Station (Wuppertal Hauptbahnhof). You can check the connections here.

Wuppertal Central Station and the city centre are both about a 10-minute walk from the Historische Stadthalle. If you take the escalator to platform 1 at the station and walk straight along the platform towards platform section E, then take Elisabeth-Schniewind-Str. to Bahnhofstr., you will almost have reached the Historische Stadthalle Wuppertal.

The nearest international airports are Düsseldorf (DUS), Frankfurt (FRA) or Amsterdam (AMS).

Wuppertal

The city of Wuppertal nestles on the hills to the right and left of the river Wupper. It is considered the city with the most stairs in Germany and is famous for the oldest suspension railway still in operation in Germany. Due to its excellent acoustics, the Historische Stadthalle is one of the top 3 concert halls in Europe - or the world even? Come and find out.


Guest ensemble: Westminster Chorus 

Special guest is Westminster Chorus, the gold medal chorus in the BHS 2024 international competition!

Under the direction of Dr. Dan Wessler, Westminster Chorus is the winner of the 2009 Pavarotti Trophy ‘Choir of the World’ and the gold medal winner of the Barbershop Harmony Society in 2007, 2010, 2015, 2019 and 2024. The chorus, which is made up of young and dedicated singers, was founded in its current formation in 2002. Westminster is a male chorus from California and a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS). The chorus is dedicated to preserving and promoting the art form of barbershop while creating and encouraging an inclusive community for young people in Southern California and around the world to engage in a lifetime of singing, music and artistic expression.

Programme

Saturday, March 14, 2026

09:30 am: part II of German and World Mixed Chorus Championships

03:35 pm: Chorus awards ceremony 

04:30 pm: German and World Mixed Quartet Championship Finals 

07:05 pm: Quartets award ceremony

08:30 pm: Show of the Champions, followed by afterglow

Sunday, March 15, 2026

10:30 am:  Coaching under Glass

11:30 am: Tags and Closing


This was BMF 2024