Hanseatic City Festival Słubice – Hanseatic City Festival 2026

One City, Two Countries

Frankfurt (Oder) in Brandenburg and Słubice in the Lubusz Voivodeship are the two halves of a city divided in 1945. The Oder forms the border, a bridge connects the sister cities. Since Poland's accession to the EU in 2004, both sides have been growing together again – culturally, economically, in everyday life. The joint cultural summer is the most visible symbol of this connection.

Cultural Summer Kick-off

The Hanseatic City Festival – 'Miejskie Święto Hanzy' in Polish – kicks off the cultural summer every year in early July. It is the big city festival on the Polish side (Frankfurt itself has its own city festival a little later in the summer). In 2026, the Hanseatic City Festival will take place on July 3rd and 4th.

Five Stages on the Oder Bank

Over the two days, five stages will be set up along the Polish Oder bank and in the city center of Słubice. The program includes: Polish pop, traditional Hanseatic music, German-Polish youth bands, folk dances, DJ sets. Highlight in 2026: Roxie Węgiel, one of the most successful Polish pop singers of her generation (Junior Eurovision Song Contest winner 2018), will perform as the headliner.

Folk Culture on the Oder

The Hanseatic tradition, which the festival embraces, dates back to the historical importance of the Oder cities as trading hubs. Słubice (formerly the German Dammvorstadt) was part of the Hanseatic network as a district of Frankfurt. Today's city combines this history with a modern cross-border identity – visible in the bilingual signage, academic exchange (Europa-Universität Viadrina, Collegium Polonicum), and indeed in the joint festival.

Frankfurt (Oder) and Brandenburg

Frankfurt (Oder) is an independent city in the state of Brandenburg, on the Polish border. With the cultural summer, the region is developing a cultural policy identity that explicitly crosses borders. The Hanseatic City Festival in Słubice is an invitation – residents of Brandenburg and Berlin are expressly welcome to visit the Polish bank and celebrate the festival together.