ARENA… of Young Arts

A Student-Organized Festival with Over 30 Years of Tradition

ARENA… der jungen Künste is one of the oldest student-organized theatre festivals in Germany. Founded in 1991 at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, it sees itself as a platform for young, contemporary, interdisciplinary, and experimental productions – theatre, dance, performance, hybrid forms. The organizer is the association ARENA – der jungen Künste e.V., run by FAU students and supported by the Kulturstiftung Erlangen.

Concept: An Annual Motto

Each year, the festival sets a motto to which international artists can develop and submit contributions. For 2026, the theme is "KRAWALL". Artists are invited to engage creatively and individually with the term – understood as rebellion, noise, disruption, uproar. Thus, the 2026 edition continues a tradition of regularly addressing politically and socially charged topics through the means of young stage art.

Production Funding Instead of Just a Performance Slot

Unlike many festivals, ARENA offers selected contributions production funding of up to €1,500. Invited artists also receive accommodation and catering during the festival days. This provides a significantly more attractive framework for student and independent groups than the usual "performance opportunity without a fee" and is one of the reasons why ARENA has attracted an international applicant pool over the years.

Venues at FAU

ARENA uses various spaces at and around Friedrich-Alexander-Universität: the Audimax, smaller lecture halls, a theatre space, and the Festival Centre, specially constructed each year as a meeting and catering point for artists and the audience. Several performances run concurrently on multiple stages; in between, the Festival Centre invites exchange.

Erlangen as a Festival City

Erlangen, the Franconian university city on the outskirts of the Nuremberg metropolitan area, boasts a remarkably dense festival landscape: International Comic Salon, Poetenfest, Altstadtfest, ARENA. ARENA brings the international, young performance scene to the city – a distinctly different tone from Erlangen's established major events, but with an energy that directly reflects the city's student-dominated character.