Sankt Augustin Open Air & Sankt Augustin Live

Summer in the youngest major city in the Rhein-Sieg district

Sankt Augustin – the city with around 60,000 inhabitants southeast of Bonn – presents a community-oriented summer program with 'Sankt Augustin Open Air', which takes place on the city center's Karl-Gatzweiler-Platz for several weeks. After the success of the first two editions in 2024 and 2025, the city is expanding the concept in 2026, combining two strands: the free Friday evenings with a children's and community stage, and the Wednesday cover band series 'Sankt Augustin Live'.

Friday Stage: First Children, Then Associations

Every Friday afternoon from 4 PM, the Children's Stage features puppet shows ('Kasper and the Stolen Birthday', 'Pepina and the Garbage Ghosts'), interactive concerts, and the popular Conni series by WoDo Puppenspiel. From 7 PM, associations from Sankt Augustin and the surrounding area take over the stage: the PopChor of the Rhein-Sieg-Gymnasium, Musikverein Siegklang, the Big Band of the Gymnasium, the carnival group 'Piranhas op Jück' – a colorful cross-section of the local association landscape.

Sankt Augustin Live: Cover Bands on Wednesdays

The Wednesday series 'Sankt Augustin Live' begins on May 27, 2026, and runs for four weeks with concerts starting at 6 PM or 7 PM. The 2026 lineup mixes tribute acts with local bands: cover band Alex im Westerland (homage to Die Toten Hosen and Die Ärzte), the BAP tribute band MAM, the soul/disco/rock trio B.and M, and the Beatles tribute band The Peteles. Free admission – a popular format among strollers, families, and employees of the nearby Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences.

Grand Summer Finale: Holmes and Watson

On July 31, 2026, at 7:30 PM, the series concludes with a theatrical flourish with the open-air theatre 'Holmes and Watson' by NN Theater Köln on Karl-Gatzweiler-Platz. Tickets: €15 (adults), €8 (children and youths up to 18), available at the municipal music school and the bookstore of the Steyler Missionaries. This makes it the only paid event in the series – and also proof that open-air culture in Sankt Augustin also invites professional spoken theatre.

Community-Oriented Format in the Rhein-Sieg District

The event series is part of the city's strategy in the Rhein-Sieg district (state of North Rhine-Westphalia) to revitalize the city center around the redesigned Karl-Gatzweiler-Platz and enhance its appeal. Sankt Augustin benefits from its proximity to Bonn and Cologne but has its own profile as a young university city – the open air makes the stage visible precisely where the city center and association life meet.