Lausitz Festival 26: What visitors can expect

22 venues at 14 locations: over three weeks in August and September, the "Lausitz Festival" cultural festival will once again bring literature, photography, music and theater to the region in Brandenburg and Saxony.

The motto of the seventh edition is "creaturely". The word made up of creature and creator reflects the transformation of Lusatia following the coal phase-out, explained festival director Daniel Kühnel. "The task of culture is to show different perspectives and new points of view." The challenge is to engage with this.

From 25 August to 13 September 2026, the festival will take place in Cottbus, Finsterwalde, Hoyerswerda, Weißwasser, Görlitz, Bautzen and Zittau, among others. The venues include village churches, small theaters, a historic machine hall and the former hangar of Cottbus military airport. Shakespeare's "Hamlet" will be performed four times where airplanes once stood.

Corinna Harfouch and Götz Schubert in the aircraft hangar

Actors Corinna Harfouch and Götz Schubert, among others, will be on stage in Hangar 1. According to Schubert, water and paint will also be used. The premiere is already sold out. Children from Cottbus will also be present in the hangar.

In a church in Cunewalde, Schubert will also be performing the MusikHörSpiel "Passion. On Humanity" by the author Amélie Nothomb on stage. The theme: What goes on inside a person on the evening before their crucifixion? "With all the discord, with all the doubts, with all the strange situations" - that really touched him, says Schubert. "I've never really felt this close to Jesus before."

Bad Muskau Castle together with the State Museum in Cottbus

In a collaboration between Bad Muskau Castle and the Brandenburg State Museum of Modern Art in Cottbus, an exhibition by a contemporary Brazilian artist will be on display: Jonathas de Andrade. Three Brazilian musicians will perform at the Energiefabrik in Knappenrode.

The 1,200-page Polish work "The Doll" by Boleslaw Prus, which is considered the Eastern European equivalent of Charles Dickens, is about literature. Three days of philosophizing will take place in Cottbus at the so-called Lausitz Labor. And a youth club from Cottbus will present the world premiere of a play that deals with leaving and staying in one's homeland.

A new prize for a person who loves culture

Around 15,000 people attended the festival last year. The number of performances was reduced. In addition to organizational reasons, funding also played a role, says Managing Director Maria Schulz. Federal funding has been halved from 4 to 2 million euros, while the festival now has 3.3 million euros available from state and foundation funds.

Another new feature is the Credo Prize, which will be awarded every two years in future to individuals who have made a special contribution to the social significance of culture. The prize will be awarded at the opening concert on August 25 in the parish church of St. Peter and Paul in Görlitz.