DONOTS, BLOND (Saturday) and DAS LUMPENPACK (Sunday) were the main acts on the main stage this year. This meant: Punk rock, pop anthems and comedy, the festival organizers' claim to present a broad spectrum of the music scene was once again fulfilled. And this was also confirmed by the other acts. With the music project Keshavara and the Veedelperlen, the “biggest girl band in the world”, the musical spectrum was extended even further.

At the end of its ARTE Summer Tour across Germany and France, the culture channel ARTE will once again made a stop at the gamescom city festival with its colorful bus. The tour program included games, fun and action around the ARTE program. Once again on tour was the ARTE sing-along karaoke, which was presented by presenter Bianca Hauda on the festival's main stage on Saturday. The karaoke playlist is available online at arte.tv/concert.

Things got more political on Sunday with the "Festival of Democracy". As in the previous year, the main stage was taken over by the musicians' initiative "Arsch Huh - Zäng Ussenander" for almost four hours. The performance by numerous bands and artists under the motto "Arsch Huh for Democracy" was also the launch of the initiative's campaign of the same name. More information:  www.arschhuh.de

While the east side of Rudolfplatz was taken up by a beer garden with a wide range of drinks and food, a two-day DJ session on the open deck bus Cologne in the shadow of the Hahnentorburg turned the west side of the square into a dance floor.

In addition to companies such as Canon, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research also presented itself on the Hohenzollernring. With the #MINTmagie campaign, it showed how much magic and future there is in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Initiatives and organizations from the games sector also presented themselves.

The Cologne police, together with e-scooter rental companies, offered practical driving training on a separate course and gave tips on how to use the e-scooter correctly. And finally, for all those who were thinking about getting skin jewelry: The COSMOS Universe of Jewelry, Tattoo & Piercing studio was also on site and made it possible.

The “Alienware Tech Explore Tour, presented by Alienware + Intel” also made a stop at the gamescom city festival:

Here's what you can expect on the tour, among other things:

• 5 gaming stations from Alienware, including games, headphones, mice + keyboards.
• AI photo booth for a selfie alone or with friends. AI-generated photo to post on social media.
• Wheel of fortune to win Alienware goodies or a competition with the chance to win a brand new Alienware product.
• The latest Alienware accessories.
• And much more.