St. Ingberter Pfanne

A Pan from Saarland

The St. Ingberter Pfanne has been awarded annually by the city of St. Ingbert (Saarpfalz district) since 1985. Together with the Salzburger Stier and the Deutscher Kleinkunstpreis (Mainz), it is considered one of the three most important cabaret prizes in the German-speaking world. Winning here means a career leap – the list of laureates reads like a Who's Who of German-speaking cabaret.

The Competition Format

On four competition evenings, three candidates each perform a 45-minute program against each other. They are judged by a professional jury, an audience jury, and a youth jury (funded by the Ministry of Culture). A total of four prizes, each worth €4,000, are awarded: two jury prizes, an audience prize, and the youth jury prize. The festive award ceremony takes place on the Friday after the competition evenings.

The Industriekathedrale Alte Schmelz

The venue is the Industriekathedrale Alte Schmelz, a former ironworks from the 18th century, now used as an event location. The brick architecture and high halls give the performances a unique flair – a venue so closely associated with the festival that many can no longer imagine the Pfanne without it.

Genres and Application

The festival is open to cabaret, singer-songwriters, mime, physical and musical theatre, comedy, and innovative cabaret forms. The programs must appeal to a predominantly German-speaking audience. It is not exclusively a competition for emerging artists, but aspiring artists in particular like to use the Pfanne as a stage – also because all entries are recorded by Saarländischer Rundfunk and later broadcast on the third ARD programs and 3sat.

St. Ingbert as the Capital of Cabaret

St. Ingbert, with just under 37,000 inhabitants and located in the Saarpfalz district, is not known to everyone outside of Saarland. However, in the cabaret scene, the city has been a must-attend event for decades – the Pfanne has given St. Ingbert a cultural visibility that extends far beyond the borders of Saarland.