Holzrock Open Air

40 Years of DIY Festival on the Edge of the Black Forest

Holzrock Open Air is one of Germany's oldest and most distinctive DIY festivals. It has been held for over forty years in Sengelenwäldchen — a small wooded area above Schopfheim, a town of 19,000 inhabitants in the Lörrach district in the southern Black Forest. Its roots go back to 1984, when the festival was still called Woodrock. Since 1991, it has taken place as Holzrock in its current form. The 40th edition in 2026 runs on Friday, July 31 and Saturday, August 1, 2026.

Anti-fascist, Non-commercial, DIY

Holzrock explicitly defines itself as an anti-fascist, non-commercial DIY festival. It is organized by a volunteer collective without any commercial background — all proceeds go towards promoting local subculture, political solidarity work, and the maintenance of the festival. The Badische Zeitung once described it as "left-autonomous" — a label the festival itself does not reject. Core values:

• DIY culture (Do It Yourself) — everything is made by volunteers
• Anti-fascist — no place for racism, sexism, homo-/transphobia (awareness concept)
• Vegan/vegetarian food by the Freiburg-based Maulwurf-Gruppe, a political cooking collective (meat only on personal DIY grills, no commercial stalls)
• Accessible — accessible toilets, free showers, several water stations
• Family-friendly — dedicated family camping, free children's program

Music, Circus, Workshops

Programmatically, Holzrock is cross-genre:

• Main stage — from Friday afternoon until late Saturday night: Punk, Hardcore, Ska-Punk, Indie, Crossover, regional and national bands
• Circus tent — international artists, performance, variety shows
• Theater and lectures — political lectures, readings, workshops
• Children's program — free, with crafts, games, interactive workshops
• Culture tents — discussions, film screenings, alternative education

Capacity and Tickets

The capacity is around 800 visitors — deliberately small to maintain the intimate, collective atmosphere. Friday day ticket: €15, Weekend ticket: €25, Children's and cultural program free, camping free on site. This makes Holzrock one of the cheapest festivals in Germany — a conscious political decision against the commercialization of the festival scene.

Sengelenwäldchen and Schopfheim

The Sengelenwäldchen is a small wooded area on Sengelenweg, about a ten-minute walk from Schopfheim train station. Its location between forest and meadow gives the festival its special atmosphere — not a large field with sponsor banners, but trees, campfires, and wooden stages. Schopfheim is located in the southern Black Forest near the Swiss border and Basel, in the Wiesental valley between Lörrach and Todtnau. Those arriving by train use the Wiesentalbahn (Basel–Zell im Wiesental). The festival is a magnet for the alternative scene from Basel, Freiburg, Mulhouse, Lörrach, and the entire trinational border region.