FREISTIL_FESTIVAL

A Biennale Festival in an Industrial Icon

The FREISTIL_FESTIVAL is a biennial format for the independent performing arts in Saarland and the SaarLorLux Greater Region. It is supported by the Netzwerk Freie Szene Saar, the association of independent theatre, dance, and performance creators in Saarland. For years, the venue has been the Völklinger Hütte UNESCO World Heritage Site — an industrial monument of global renown, whose blast furnaces, blower halls, and sintering plants offer a breathtaking backdrop for contemporary theatre.

Motto 2026: "Move it!"

The motto for the 2026 edition — "Move it!" — is programmatic: it's about movement as an artistic strategy (dance, performance, body-based theatre forms), as a social demand (stagnation vs. change), and as spatial exploration (movement through the extensive industrial site). The festival doesn't just use a single stage but leads the audience from hall to hall, from bunker to bunker, from industrial yard to concert space — the journey is part of the production.

Young Audience Theatre Week

A special focus is on the Young Audience Theatre Week: plays and productions for children and young people, workshops with school classes, and participatory formats. This makes the FREISTIL_FESTIVAL one of the most important festivals for children's and youth theatre in Saarland.

ODE TO JOY — The Greater Region on Stage

A special initiative is ODE TO JOY: the festival presents productions from Lorraine and Luxembourg, in partnership with the Festival des Antipodes from Lorraine. This positions FREISTIL_FESTIVAL as a cross-border cultural laboratory, utilizing Saarland's geographical location as a hub between Germany, France, and Luxembourg.

FREISTIL_STADTLABOR — The Preparation Phase

Starting two weeks before the festival, the FREISTIL_STADTLABOR (September 1–18, 2026) will take place: free participatory activities in Völklingen, involving residents and families — workshops, city walks, small performances in public spaces. It aims to root the festival in the city, preventing it from appearing merely as an external cultural event.

Völklinger Hütte — UNESCO World Heritage

The Völklinger Hütte was one of Europe's most important iron and steel works from 1873 to 1986 and was the first industrial monument to be added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994. Today, it is one of Europe's most spectacular event venues: 600,000 square meters of industrial architecture, blast furnaces, the charging hall, sintering plant — a walkable cathedral of the Industrial Revolution. The FREISTIL_FESTIVAL is one of the defining festival formats that artistically utilize this backdrop.

Völklingen and the Saarbrücken Regional Association

Völklingen is located in the Saarbrücken Regional Association, directly on the Saar river, 10 km from the state capital. This makes travel easy: Saarbrücken main station, then S-Bahn to Völklingen, or directly by car via the A620.