From 4 to 6 June 2026, the Freak Valley Festival in Netphen once again served as a practical learning and working environment for students on the Popular Music and Media and Media Studies study programmes. As part of the seminar ‘Planning, Filming and Editing Moving Images at the Freak Valley Festival 2026’, led by Jörg Maas, they documented the festival action both on and off stage with their cameras.
Building on theoretical and technical preparation in Paderborn, the students were able to apply their knowledge under real-world production conditions. Amidst the hustle and bustle of the festival, changing lighting conditions and a tight schedule, they captured footage of the concerts, the festival site and the festival’s unique atmosphere. In addition, the team produced potential footage for Rockpalast Shorts and assisted the organisers with filming a concert. The official aftermovie of the Freak Valley Festival 2026 was subsequently created from the extensive footage. The clip not only brings together concert highlights and impressions of the festival site, but also showcases the result of an intensive student media production project: from editorial planning and camera work right through to the review and editing of the footage.
The project thus directly links various areas of the degree programme. Students gain insights into professional production processes, take on responsibility within a team and gain practical experience at the interface between Music, festival organisation and audiovisual communication.
The seminar builds on the long-standing collaboration between the study programmes and WDR Rockpalast and Jörg Maas. Thanks to his experience in professional concert and festival production, students gain practical insights into editorial processes, camera work and the specific requirements of audiovisual music reporting.
With around 3,000 visitors, the Freak Valley Festival is one of the established meeting places for the international stoner, psychedelic and rock scenes. At the same time, its intimate atmosphere offers unique conditions for media work: the close proximity between the audience, artists, crew, organisers and the WDR Rockpalast team opens up many exciting perspectives.
The skilled and motivated student team successfully capitalised on these opportunities again in 2026, creating a multifaceted insight into the festival’s atmosphere.
