QUEERFELD Festival Krefeld

QUEERFELD Returns

After successful previous editions, QUEERFELD returns as a festival to Krefeld in 2026 — confidently claiming the title 'Germany's queerest open-air festival'. The festival will take place on Thursday, May 7, 2026, at the Schlachthof Krefeld, one of Krefeld's most important independent cultural venues, which has become a hotspot of Lower Rhine subculture in recent years.

The Schlachthof — A Cultural Venue with History

The Schlachthof Krefeld at Diessemerstraße 9 is a former industrial site that now serves as an event and cultural center. With its open outdoor space and indoor halls, it offers the perfect setting for an open-air festival with a simultaneous indoor component. The queer community in Krefeld and the surrounding region (Düsseldorf, Mönchengladbach, Lower Rhine) has established the Schlachthof as an important platform.

Program — A Stage for Queer Artists of All Disciplines

QUEERFELD is not a classic music festival — it is an interdisciplinary queer festival. Artists from all disciplines will be on stage:

• Live Podcasts — the most important queer podcasts will be recorded live, with the audience seeing and hearing the recording in real-time
• Drag Shows — performances by drag queens and kings from the region and beyond
• Live Concerts — music by LGBTQIA+ artists, from pop to indie
• Spoken Word and Readings — texts by queer authors and activists

The exact list of performers for 2026 will be announced in the weeks leading up to the festival on schlachthof-krefeld.de and Instagram (@queer.feld).

Schedule

• 5:00 PM — Doors open
• 6:00 PM — Festival program start
• Evening — Festival program with multiple acts
• Late evening — Aftershow party

New Seating Arrangement for 2026 — Free Choice of Seats

A deliberate program change for 2026: free choice of seats instead of the previous table assignments. This change creates a less formal atmosphere and allows groups of various sizes to mingle freely — fitting the open festival character.

Free Entry with Advance Registration

The festival is free of charge — making it one of the most accessible queer events in Western Germany. A free advance registration via the ticket link is recommended to help organizers plan logistics (catering, seating, stage technology) accordingly.

Why QUEERFELD is Important

The Lower Rhine region has a smaller queer scene than major cities like Cologne or Berlin — which makes events like QUEERFELD all the more valuable. The festival is a rare open-air platform for queer visibility in a region that is not consistently covered by Pride events. For younger queer people from the region who cannot travel to Cologne every weekend, it is an important meeting point.