Name: Kinderfest Ossig 2026
Start: 2026-07-18T00:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-07-19T00:00:00+00:00
Location: Festwiese Ossig

Kinderfest Ossig

About Kinderfest Ossig

The Kinderfest in Ossig is one of the oldest children's festivals in Germany. Since the mid-19th century, the small district of the municipality of Gutenborn in the Burgenlandkreis has celebrated a traditional weekend for children and families every mid-July — with a festival parade, games, carousels, a farmers' market, and an unbreakably strong village community.

Dates 18 Jul — 19 Jul 2026

Venue Gutenborn (15084)

Prices Free

Status —

Edition 2026

Kinderfest Ossig — edition 2026

The 162nd Kinderfest Ossig is traditionally expected on the 3rd weekend of July — likely July 18/19, 2026. Classic program with festival parade, children's games, carousel, and dance evening. The exact date will be announced by the local association in spring 2026.

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.

Highlights Kinderfest Ossig 2026

One of Germany's oldest children's festivals (since 1864)
Festival parade with children's king and queen
Classic carousel and shooting gallery atmosphere
Dance evening on Saturday
Lively village community

Programme Kinderfest Ossig 2026

Expected Program

Saturday: Children's festival parade with floats and brass band through the village
Appointment of the children's king and queen
Afternoon: Children's games and competitions on the festival grounds
Food stalls, carousel, shooting galleries
Evening: Dance evening for adults in the festival tent
Sunday: Morning pint and family afternoon

Exact dates and program items will be published by the Ossig local association in spring/summer 2026.

Prices Kinderfest Ossig 2026

Free admission. Carousel and food on site are subject to a charge.

Practical information

Practical information — Kinderfest Ossig

Getting there

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.

Admission

Free admission. Food, carousel rides, and shooting gallery visits are subject to a charge on site.

On site

Carousels, food stalls, festival tent with dance stage, play areas.

Tip

Combine your visit with a tour through the Saale-Unstrut wine region or a detour to Zeitz (Moritzburg Castle, historic old town).

A festival that began in 1864

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.

Classic village children's festival with a parade

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.

A rural festival tradition as cultural heritage

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.

Burgenlandkreis as a festival region

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.