Gutes Klima Festival Essen

Gutes Klima Festival — Climate Action with a Festival Format

Want to engage with climate topics without getting bored with studies on the weekend? The Gutes Klima Festival at Zeche Carl has been bringing the best of both worlds together since 2021: a festival day with music, theatre, and food stalls, which also gathers the contact points, initiatives, and projects that are working on climate protection and sustainability in the region. The sixth edition on July 11, 2026, consistently continues this concept — and focuses on young people under 25.

Three Thematic Worlds

The festival is divided into three main areas, which are recognizable as distinct zones on the grounds:

• Food & Drinks — vegetarian and vegan cuisine from around the world, curated with the aim of showing how “diverse and delicious” sustainable nutrition can be. NRW nutrition councils and Foodjustice initiatives are involved.
• Young Power — Young & Engaged — a dedicated area for people under 25, where climate and sustainability projects from schools, youth associations, and student groups are presented. In 2026, this is the focus of the edition.
• Green Business Campus 2.0 — sustainable companies and founders who show that “sustainable action can also be economically successful.” With pitches, consulting stations, and networking.

Program: Talks, Workshops, Theatre

Over six hours, events are spread across several stages and in workshop rooms at Zeche Carl: talks on the energy transition and urban agriculture, hands-on workshops on upcycling and repair, discussion rounds with local politicians and scientists. In addition, street theatre, live music from small indie and folk bands from the Ruhr area, open-air yoga, and childcare.

Zeche Carl — Industrial Monument and Cultural Centre

Zeche Carl in the Essen district of Altenessen is a former hard coal mine that was converted into a socio-cultural centre after its closure in 1929. Today, Zeche Carl is an established stage for concerts, theatre, readings, and festivals — one of the most important venues for the independent scene in northern Essen. The festival location with its inner courtyard, machine hall, and outdoor area offers an ideal mixed backdrop for an outdoor-indoor festival.

Essen, Altenessen, and Climate Engagement

Essen is an independent city in the administrative district of Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia — until a few decades ago, the epitome of heavy industry and coal mining, today a pioneer in structural change. In 2017, Essen was the “European Green Capital,” and the city has converted its stock of urban industrial monuments into parks, cultural, and educational centres. The Gutes Klima Festival is part of this movement — and shows what the end of the structural change story should look like.