33rd Leipzig City Festival 2026

Saxony's Largest City Festival

The Leipzig City Festival is one of Saxony's largest open-air events and has been a firm fixture during Pentecost for over three decades. In 2026, the 33rd edition will run from Friday, June 5th, to Sunday, June 7th, under the motto «My Leipzig — My City Festival». For three days, the festival will spread throughout the entire city center — from the market square with the Old Town Hall, across Augustusplatz with the Opera and Gewandhaus, to Nikolaikirchhof, the historic starting point of the peaceful revolution of 1989.

Five Major Stages, Each with Its Own Identity

The 5 stages shape the City Festival, each with its own profile:

• Ur-Krostitzer Biergarten — Market Square: Pop and schlager, cover bands, great open-air atmosphere in front of the Old Town Hall.
• Radeberger Sommergarten — Augustusplatz: the largest stage; headliners from rock, pop, and folk music with a view of the Leipzig Opera, Gewandhaus, and Krochhochhaus.
• Freiberger Lounge — Wilhelm-Leuschner-Platz: electronic music and DJ sets, younger audience, continuous beats late into the night.
• Irish Stage — Nikolaikirchhof: Irish folk, pub music, dance — a Leipzig City Festival tradition since the 2000s.
• Classical and Family Stage: together with the Gewandhaus Orchestra, Leipzig Opera, and Thomanerchor — classical concerts, children's program, family formats.

150 Hours of Live Program

Throughout the entire weekend, the five stages together offer 150 hours of live program. Pop, rock, folk music, schlager, classical, folk, electronic — the musical range is one of the widest in the Saxon city festival calendar. In addition, there are theater and dance acts (Schauspiel Leipzig, GewandhausOrchester, cabaret classics from Pfeffermühle and Sanftwut), Leipzig restaurateurs with their regional and international delicacies, and vendors along the festival mile.

Tradition and Ecumenical Service

A special feature of the Leipzig City Festival is its religious tradition: on Sunday, June 7th, 2026, at 11:00 AM, an ecumenical service will take place at Nikolaikirchhof. The Nikolaikirche was the starting point of the peaceful revolution in 1989 — the peace prayers of the Monday demonstrations helped set the GDR's turnaround in motion. The City Festival honors this tradition with an ecumenical service that connects the festival weekend with the Leipzig civil society.