It was founded in 2002 by Gunther Buskies and Dirk Darmstaedter and primarily focused on Deutschpop Bands such as Erdmöbel, Niels Frevert, Tele and Anajo.

They include Lloyd Cole, The Monochrome Set, The Telescopes, The Lilac Time, Robert Forster, Stereo Total, The Catenary Wires, Andreas Dorau, Bobby Conn, The Proper Ornaments, Pete Astor, Hellsongs, Lacrosse, Gary Olson, Bambi Kino, Christian Kjellvander, John Howard & The Night Mail, Last Days Of April and many more.

[3] Howdy Partner Booking promotes Tapete Records bands as well as bands from other labels, having a total of more than 70 artists in its repertoire (e.g. Bobby Conn, Bill Pritchard, The Proper Ornaments, Pete Astor, The Late Call, Robert Forster, John Howard & The Night Mail and more).

It is a small festival with several folk and pop musicians performing in special and beautiful locations in the city center such as the town hall ( Königsmarcksaal), the court, the museum "Schwedenspeicher", Seminarturnhalle, St. Wilhadi-Kirche and more.

Bands and artists that have played the Hanse Song Festival so far are, amongst others, Lloyd Cole (UK), Olli Schulz (D), Niels Frevert (D), Ezio (UK), ClickClickDecker (D), Luka Bloom (IRL), Bernd Begemann & Die Befreiung (D), Die Höchste Eisenbahn (D), Cäthe (D), Christian Kjellvander (SWE), Tim Neuhaus (D), Pohlmann (D), Hellsongs (SWE), Kat Frankie (AUS), Jan Plewka (D), Fotos (D), The Grand Opening (SWE), The Soft Hills (USA), and many more.