One of Germany's oldest children's festivals — tradition for over 160 years
The Kinderfest Ossig celebrated its 161st edition in 2025 — a number that makes one pause. Here in Ossig, a district of the municipality of Gutenborn in the Burgenlandkreis in Saxony-Anhalt, a unique children's festival has been celebrated annually since 1864. Two World Wars, a divided Germany, several economic crises — the festival has survived it all. It is one of the oldest continuously celebrated children's festivals in Germany.
The program is classic and familiar for generations: a festival parade of children through the village, often with self-built floats, traditional costume groups, and the local brass band. On the festival grounds, there are carousels, small shooting galleries, food stalls with bratwurst and cotton candy, competitions, and hands-on activities. The highlight is the children's king ceremony — each year, a king and queen are chosen, who parade through the village. In the evening, there is a dance for adults in the festival tent.
What makes the Kinderfest Ossig special is the persistence with which it has been maintained over decades. While other villages have lost their traditional festivals because the structures collapsed, Ossig has managed the balancing act: locally rooted, yet open to the generation of parents and grandparents who support the festival. The result is a form of lived customs preservation that has already become a museum elsewhere.
The Burgenlandkreis cultivates one of the densest village festival cultures in Saxony-Anhalt. Harvest festivals, Schützenfeste (marksmen's festivals), children's festivals, Pentecost festivals — annual events, often celebrated for centuries, hold the social fabric of the villages together. The Kinderfest Ossig is one of the oldest and most continuous examples of this culture. Those who visit it experience not just a festival, but a living piece of Central German history.
As in the over 160 previous years, the Kinderfest Ossig 2026 will mobilize the entire village community. Two days of program with the classic structure: festival parade, children's activities, dance evening — the exact choreography has proven itself over decades.
Exact dates and program items will be published by the Ossig local association in spring/summer 2026.
Free admission. Carousel and food on site are subject to a charge.
By car via the B2 or B180 from Zeitz. By train to Zeitz, then by bus or taxi to Ossig (approx. 12 km). Parking available on the outskirts of the village.
Free admission. Food, carousel rides, and shooting gallery visits are subject to a charge on site.
Carousels, food stalls, festival tent with dance stage, play areas.
Combine your visit with a tour through the Saale-Unstrut wine region or a detour to Zeitz (Moritzburg Castle, historic old town).
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Festwiese Ossig
Ortsmitte Ossig, 06712 Gutenborn