Orange Blossom Special

The Orange Blossom Special is the three-day festival in the garden of Glitterhouse Records, in Beverungen, by the Weser. Wikipedia leaves it since 1997, at Pentecost, and says the name comes from the Johnny Cash song. Rembert Stiewe, co-founder of the label, and Simon Baranowski host it. The site, read on 28 September 2026, still sells a later Pentecost weekend. Those dates stay out. The address is kept.

The start sits in the summer of 1996. The Westfalen-Blatt and the label note say Go To Blazes stopped in Beverungen, took the acoustic instruments out of the bus and played for a few hours in the villa garden. Stiewe told his colleague Reinhard Holstein that they should do it again. Both call that a drinks idea. 1997 comes out of it. The edition count does not match that start year: the Westfalen-Blatt calls the weekend of 17 to 19 May 2024 the 26th time, and the weekend of 22 to 24 May 2026 is billed as the 28th. 1997 and those numbers stay together.

Ullrich Maurer, on gaesteliste.de on 7 June 2026, walks Sunday 24 May in the garden. The motto of that weekend is Lebenstankstelle. The surprise act, behind the curtain and ten minutes late because of the queue, is Young Rebel Set, from Stockton-on-Tees. They had already been at edition 15, in 2011. Stiewe sketches the pause and the return: singer Matthew Chipchase died in December 2019, the group broke up, and in September 2025 it came back with Tom Blackwell, from Liverpool. They open with Anchorage, a new single written by Chipchase and released now with Blackwell on Grand Hotel Van Cleef. Lion's Mouth, Yesca The Fear and Berlin Nights follow, plus tracks from the EP Sun. In the photos, Blackwell puts on a Halloween mask and they add a cardboard Nick Cave. Luke Evans, guitar and founding member, says afterwards that the group enjoyed the slot. They do not reach the meet and greet: they have another show.

Mel D is Melanie Danusier's project. They arrive from Zurich with bassist Naiara and stand-in drummer Anton, after a breakdown, the same as Annie Taylor the day before. Maurer names Not Crazy and We Win toward the end, and the close Bring The Wichtes Back, in that spelling. The weight falls on the album Young Bones. Katja Seiffert, as Blush Always, leaves Coming Of Age, My Mom's Birthday and Bigger Picture, the single recorded with Brockhoff, with a short smile. Alela Diane, from Portland, had released Who's Keeping Time on the Friday. The drummer does not travel. On stage are bassist Sebastian Owens, who also plays violin, and Paige Anderson, of the project Two Runner. Maurer closes Pirate's Gospel, the waltz Of Love from the album Looking Glass, California and the piece Piss, Coffee, Blood Or Wine.

Maria Iskariot, from Ghent, are Helena Cazaerck, Loeke Vanhoutteghem, Sybe Versluys and bassist Amanda Barbosa. In the same review, Maurer later writes Barbara next to Loeke. The two names stay together. The rider asked for 20 metres of microphone cable. Stiewe allows 40. Rozemarijn, Zes Bekers and Tijm sound, a Flemish version of Tame, by Pixies. The album is called Wereldwaan. Maurer notes, from the Friday, the cover of Helter Skelter by Bikini Beach. The auction of the signed panel, for Viva con Agua, brings in 7,000 euros. Turbostaat, from Flensburg, with Jan Windmeier, lean on the album Alter Zorn, with no loose title. Wrest, from Scotland, with Stewart Douglas, close the garden with no loose title. They had already been at edition 25. In front of the transformer hut, Kilian Bungert, as Stoic Mind, plays the album To Know What I'm Scared Of on his feet, with no loose title. On the mini stage, Agassi gathers Ben Galliers, Mark Tavassol, Nina Müller, Jonas Böker and Matthias Koschnitzke, with the album Arcade Melodies on Clouds Hill, also with no loose title. Gringo Mayer, whose name off the stage is Tim, sings in Kurpfalz dialect with a brass section, with no loose title. Anton Stechonin, in Visions on 24 May 2024, walks Friday the 17th of that weekend: Hot Wax, from Britain, loses the bass to a technical fault and is left a duo on their second show in Germany.

JamBase places the label at Grüner Weg 25, 37688 Beverungen. Wikipedia speaks of up to 25 groups over three days, with the weight on indie, the songwriter, rock and folk. Alex T. and Guido B., in jmc Magazin on 25 June 2026, with photos by Denis Schinner, walk the Saturday with no titles: Schreng Schreng and La La, Lasse Paulus and Jörkk Mechenbier, step onto the main-stage carpet for the first time. Tramhaus, from Rotterdam, close that night, shoegaze and post-punk, also with no title. Maurer's Sunday is enough for the closed songs.