Jazzoffensive — Rare Birds Jazz Festival fabrik Potsdam

Festival for Creative Music

Since 2015, Jazzoffensive has been the annual musical highlight of fabrik Potsdam — and one of the few places in Brandenburg where contemporary jazz, free improvisation, and experimental music come together at a high international level. The artistic direction is held by pianist Constanze Schliebs and pianist Nicolas Schulze. They understand the festival as an "open and diversified festival for creative music that goes beyond the conventional boundaries of jazz" — thus explicitly not as a pure jazz festival, but as a platform for everything that happens between jazz, new music, electroacoustics, and improvisation.

A Festival in Transition

Each edition has had its own motto so far. The fifth edition in 2019 bore the simple title #5, the sixth in 2020 took place for only one evening due to the pandemic, the seventh in 2021 spanned two days. In 2022, the festival was called JAZZOFFENSIVE GOES FUTURE, in 2023 the motto was "Once upon a string" with a focus on string instruments, in 2024 "I sing the body…!“ alluded to Walt Whitman and put the voice at the center — Nik Bärtsch's Ronin performed as headliner. This motto-driven programming allows Schliebs and Schulze to invite new artists every year without committing to a fixed style.

The fabrik Potsdam and Schiffbauergasse

The venue is fabrik Potsdam, the international center for dance and movement art, located in a former industrial hall complex on the Schiffbauergasse site directly on the Tiefen See lake. Schiffbauergasse itself is Potsdam's premier cultural mile — in addition to fabrik, it hosts the Hans Otto Theater, the Waschhaus, the T-Werk, and several galleries. In November/December, the hall of fabrik transforms into an intimate concert space with excellent acoustics.

2026 Edition

The 2026 edition (twelfth since 2015) is planned as a two-day festival on the last weekend of November or the first weekend of December. fabrik Potsdam traditionally publishes the exact date, motto, and lineup between September and November via its website and newsletter. For those unfamiliar with the festival: it's worth subscribing to the mailing list, as the intimate concerts often sell out quickly.