# OMR Festival 2027: What over 800 speakers mean for your chances

Author: Marin Niehues, Stage Starter · Published: 2026-10-28
Topic: Finding Conferences (https://www.stage-starter.de/en/blog/topic/finding-conferences/)
Source: https://www.stage-starter.de/en/blog/omr-festival-2027-speakers/

On 27 October 2026 OMR presented further speakers for OMR Festival 2027 in OMR Daily, among them actor Matthias Schweighöfer, "Die Höhle der Löwen" judge Janna Ensthaler and Lionel Souque, CEO of the Rewe Group. The festival runs from 3 to 5 May 2027 in Hamburg, and OMR announces over 800 speakers as well as more than 1,000 exhibitors and partners. omr.com shows no open call for speakers through which you could apply as a subject expert for one of the big stages. For subject experts the routes to the festival therefore lead through masterclasses, which OMR offers as a partner format, and through side events or exhibitors' stages, with specialist conferences that run an open call alongside. This article works out what 800 speakers mean for the chances of an individual and shows how to plan your year up to May 2027.

**The key points in brief**
- OMR Festival 2027 takes place from 3 to 5 May 2027 at Hamburg Messe, and the first day is reserved for masterclasses and side events.
- OMR names over 800 speakers and more than 1,000 exhibitors and partners, and according to the festival page 70,000 visitors came in 2026.
- There is no call for speakers on omr.com. OMR markets masterclasses with up to 200 participants to partners.
- On paper there are just under 90 visitors per speaker. For five acceptances at specialist conferences you need around 50 submissions at an acceptance rate of 10 per cent.

## OMR Festival 2027: what OMR announced on 27 October

In [OMR Daily of 27 October 2026](https://omr.com/de/daily/omr27-speakerinnen-lionel-souque-janna-ensthaler-matthias-schweighoefer) Torben Lux, who leads festival programming at OMR, presents the next speakers. According to the article all three will share their insights "on the big stages", and further names are to follow in the coming weeks and months. In total OMR names over 800 speakers and more than 1,000 exhibitors and partners, and on top of that there are masterclasses and guided tours as well as side events. The Festival Pass is available at an early bird price of 539 instead of 649 euros.

The [festival page](https://omr.com/de/events/festival) adds the schedule. The festival at Hamburg Messe lasts three days, and the first day is devoted entirely to further education, with only masterclasses and side events on the programme. For 2026 the same page gives 70,000 visitors. For you as a speaker this first day is the most important news in the announcement, because it hosts exactly the formats a subject expert without television fame is most likely to get into.

## Call for speakers at OMR Festival: what omr.com shows

Anyone who wants to speak at a large festival looks for a call for speakers first, the public announcement with which an organiser collects talk proposals. We did not find one on omr.com. The festival page and the [speaker page](https://omr.com/de/events/festival/speakers/) offer no form for submitting a talk, and the article of 27 October describes no application route for speakers either.

The word application does appear at OMR, with a different meaning. In the [application phase for visitors](https://omr.com/de/daily/omr26-start-bewerbungsphase-masterclasses-guided-tours-side-events), visitors with a valid ticket apply for a seat in a session. For the 2026 festival it ran from 18 March to 16 April, and OMR spoke of over 300 masterclasses and 200 guided tours at the time. This phase is meant for attendees and still shows you how large the programme is beside the main stages.

## Masterclasses and side events: the routes beside the main stage

OMR has a dedicated page for companies that want to [host a masterclass](https://omr.com/de/events/festival/host-masterclasses). It addresses masterclass partners and describes a workshop of 60 to 90 minutes in a room of its own with a capacity of up to 200 participants, set up by OMR. Contact runs through a partner form. On the [page for exhibitors](https://omr.com/de/events/festival/become-an-exhibitor) the masterclass is listed as a standalone measure or in combination with a stand. For you this means that a company books the masterclass and chooses who speaks at the front of the room.

That leaves two routes through companies. If you work for a software vendor, an agency or a service provider exhibiting in Hamburg, put yourself forward there for the masterclass or the stage at the stand. If you are self-employed, the route leads through clients and partners who plan the festival into their marketing anyway and need a specialist talk for their room that you can deliver. The list of [exhibitors and partners](https://omr.com/de/events/festival/exhibitors/) on omr.com is the first place to research this.

For side events omr.com shows neither a call for speakers nor a form for organisers. Anyone who wants to speak there contacts the hosts once the side events are published and offers a topic that suits their audience.

**Four routes onto a stage by May 2027**
Criterion | OMR main stage | Masterclass as a partner | Side event | Specialist conference with an open call
Who decides | the OMR programme team | the company that books the masterclass | the host of the event | the programme committee
Your access | through profile and invitation | through an exhibiting company | through direct contact with the host | through your submission
Your first step | build visibility | approach exhibitors in your network | review the published side events | write and submit an abstract

## 800 speakers at one festival: a calculation for the individual

Over 800 speakers sounds like plenty of free slots, so a calculation with open assumptions is worthwhile. Assume roughly as many people come in 2027 as in 2026, then 70,000 visitors face over 800 speakers, and on paper there are just under 90 visitors per speaker. About one in 90 people at the venue is therefore speaking. OMR does not say how the 800 are split between the main stages and the other formats. The three names in the announcement come from film and television and from the top of a retail group, so for the big stages OMR relies on well-known personalities.

The second assumption concerns your own year. Assume you want to give six talks by May 2027, one of them around the festival and five at specialist conferences with an open call. For five acceptances you need around 250 submissions at an acceptance rate of 2 per cent and only 50 at 10 per cent. My own rate has risen from below 2 per cent when I started to around 10 per cent today. If you spread 50 submissions over the roughly 17 weeks from November to the end of February, that is just under three a week, whereas 250 submissions would demand almost 15 a week.

What lifts the rate from 2 to 10 per cent is craft: a topic that suits the audience of the particular conference, and an abstract that you tailor afresh for every call. What a call for papers asks for and how it works is covered in the article [What is a call for papers?](/en/blog/what-is-a-call-for-papers/).

**The calculation with open assumptions**
- 88 | visitors per speaker if as many come in 2027 as in 2026 (70,000 divided by 800)
- 250 | submissions for five acceptances at an acceptance rate of 2 per cent
- 50 | submissions for five acceptances at an acceptance rate of 10 per cent
- 3 | submissions a week from November to the end of February, at 50 in total

## Speaker plan for the year to May 2027: what to do when

Plan backwards from May. Between a submission and the talk there are usually two to six months, so submissions up to the end of February lead to stages in spring and summer 2027. In November and December you sharpen your topic, decide which clients you want to reach and write one talk with several abstract variants. During this time you also review the exhibitors on omr.com and mark the companies you already work with or have worked with.

From December to February you hold the conversations with these companies about a masterclass or a talk at their stand, and at the same time you submit to specialist conferences whose audience matches your ideal clients. How to find these conferences is described in the article [How do I find the conferences that suit my topic?](/en/blog/how-to-find-the-right-conferences/). In March and April you review the published side events and approach their hosts. If you travel to Hamburg as a visitor yourself, also use the application phase for masterclasses, which began in mid-March in 2026. In May you are in Hamburg, whether with a talk of your own or as a visitor with a clear list, and afterwards you follow up with every contact.

A single festival appearance is harder to plan for winning clients than a series of talks at specialist conferences where your ideal clients sit in the room. Why these stages are often the better choice for B2B experts is shown in the article [The industry conference as a sales channel](/en/blog/industry-conference-as-a-sales-channel/). The festival in May can then be the visible high point of a year in which you have already been on stage several times.

**What Stage Starter takes on along the way**
At Stage Starter we find the conferences that suit your topic and your ideal clients, write your abstracts in several variants tailored to each call for papers and submit them on time in your name. After that we keep track of the status and follow up. If you would rather take the route yourself, our Stage Experts accompany you in the advisory programme from positioning to submission. In an [initial consultation](/en/erstgespraech/) we plan your year up to May 2027.

**For the over 800 speakers of OMR Festival 2027, OMR has not published an open call for speakers. Subject experts get into the programme through partners' masterclasses, through side events and through exhibitors, and anyone who submits regularly to specialist conferences up to May 2027 will already be on stage in spring with experience and references.**

## Frequently asked questions

### Is there a call for speakers for OMR Festival 2027?

There is no public call for speakers on omr.com and no form for submitting a talk. The application phase that OMR announces every spring is aimed at visitors with a ticket who apply for seats in sessions such as masterclasses or guided tours. Subject experts are more likely to get into the programme through partner companies, exhibitors or side events.

### When and where does OMR Festival 2027 take place?

OMR Festival 2027 runs at Hamburg Messe from 3 to 5 May 2027, and according to the festival page the first of the three days is devoted to further education, with only masterclasses and side events.

### How does an expert get into an OMR masterclass?

OMR offers masterclasses as a partner format, meaning for companies that host a workshop of 60 to 90 minutes with up to 200 participants. As an expert you get in through such a company, for instance your employer, a client or a partner exhibiting in Hamburg.

### How much is a ticket for OMR Festival 2027?

In OMR Daily of 27 October 2026 OMR gives an early bird price of 539 euros instead of 649 euros for the Festival Pass. Visitors applying for a seat in a masterclass need a ticket, and in 2026 it had to be linked to their own account on the festival site.

### How many submissions do I need for six talks by May 2027?

That depends on your acceptance rate. If you plan one appearance around the festival and five acceptances at specialist conferences, you need around 50 submissions at 10 per cent and around 250 at 2 per cent. Spread over November to the end of February, that means just under three or almost 15 submissions a week.