Elbenwald Festival Cottbus

Music Festival Meets Fan Convention

The Elbenwald Festival in Cottbus is a unique case in the German festival landscape: there is no other event nationwide that combines an open-air music festival with a fan convention centered around films, series, anime, comics, and gaming. From August 7th to 9th, 2026, the Spreeauenpark — the former grounds of the 1995 Federal Garden Exhibition — will transform into a "fantastic parallel world for music and film fans," as the organizers themselves put it. Visitors here will encounter Middle-earth cosplayers, Marvel fans, anime convention-goers, and festival attendees all at once.

Spreeauenpark — The Ideal Venue

The Spreeauenpark in Cottbus is one of the few spacious open-air venues in Brandenburg equally suited for concerts, workshops, and a convention atmosphere. The festival sprawls across 80 hectares: a main stage for concerts, indoor areas for cosplay competitions and panel discussions, a gaming zone, film screenings, workshops on special effects makeup, archery, medieval sword fighting, and more. The Spree river flows directly through the park, lending the festival an atmospheric, tranquil character — unlike typical gravel-pit festivals.

What Awaits You?

The program combines live music (from folk metal to medieval pop, from indie rock to soundtrack concerts), cosplay competitions with jury and audience awards, meet-and-greets with actors and voice actors from well-known films/series, workshops, a vendor mile with merchandise and collectibles, a gaming area with current titles and retro stations, as well as a film program featuring classics and premieres. The exact artist lineup and program schedule will be gradually announced in the months leading up to the festival on festival.elbenwald.de.

Elbenwald — The Company Behind the Festival

Since 1996, Elbenwald GmbH has specialized in merchandise and fan items from the realms of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Marvel, DC, Anime, and Gaming. Operating from Cottbus, the company runs online shops and several physical stores in Germany and Austria. The festival is a logical extension of the business model: a weekend where the digital fan community meets and celebrates physically.

Cottbus and Lower Lusatia

With approximately 99,000 inhabitants, Cottbus is Brandenburg's second-largest city and the economic and cultural center of Lower Lusatia. Undergoing structural change — from a lignite mining region to a university city — Cottbus has developed into one of Eastern Germany's most dynamic cities. The Elbenwald Festival fits the young, creative Cottbus scene and utilizes the Spreeauenpark, a city landmark.