- Where
- Gräfenhainichen, Germany
- Site
- Ferropolis
- Since
- 1997
- Size
- 20,000 capacity (Wikipedia); Pollstar reported a sold-out 25,000 in 2013
- When
- July
- 2027
- Ended
- Music
- Electronic and indie among giant excavators
Melt started in 1997 at the Bernsteinsee in Velten, moved to the Lärz airfield the following year and in 1999 settled at Ferropolis, the open-air industrial museum on a flooded lignite pit near Gräfenhainichen. The City of Iron, as it is known, gave it the best backdrop in European festivals: enormous excavators lit up behind the stages, with a lake in front. It built a reputation on mixing indie and electronic music with more taste than most, and the sold-out crowds of 20,000 to 25,000 were large enough to matter and small enough to feel like a shared secret. On 30 May 2024 the organisers announced that year's edition would be the last. Director Florian Czok said the original Melt no longer fitted the German festival market, and reports pointed to cost pressure. The final edition ran from 11 to 13 July 2024. The organisers said they were working on new concepts, but the festival itself has ended. German house fans of a certain age still talk about dawn at Ferropolis.