The lineup for KOSMOS 2026!

KOSMOS Chemnitz is growing. For the fifth time, the free city festival will take place in Chemnitz city centre on August 29, 2026. Over 250 events spanning music, society, arts, sports, and economy will be held in new venues. The festival will take place on August 29 in the area between Hartmannplatz, Schmidtbankpassage, and Kaßbergauffahrt. The streets “An der Markthalle” and Fabrikstraße—along with their adjacent stores and vacant spaces—will be incorporated into the festival, as will schools, the Hartmannfabrik, the Hartmannhalle, and the green spaces behind them.

Musically, KOSMOS will once again cover a wide range of genres in 2026: Indie pop, German rap, electropop, punk, and techno will come together on multiple stages in the city center—featuring everything from established artists to newcomers to local acts and DJs. Musical headliners include OK KID, Alexander Marcus, Mika Noé, ok.danke.tschüss, and Dani Lia. Also performing will be SALÒ, Mariybu, beslik, Hinterlandgang, and DJ Hundefriedhof, as well as numerous other bands, solo artists, and DJ sets from Chemnitz, Germany, and all over Europe. And in 2026, all KOSMOS guests can once again look forward to an exciting SECRET ACT. Spread out over the course of the day, the program ranges from quiet moments to lively club sounds and appeals to all generations.

Numerous other headliners will be appearing at KOSMOS in panels, workshops, and keynote speeches. These include Luisa Neubauer, Arne Semsrott, Joseph “Nana Kwame” Awuah-Darko, and Luna Möbius, as well as Moritz Simon Geist, pilzaddicted, Jazzy Gabert, Ramona Wuttig, and many more.

The program is the result of the curatorial teams’ extensive work and a thorough selection process over the past weeks and months. From the numerous submissions received through the open call, the curatorial teams have put together a comprehensive program over the past weeks and months.

1 day, 250 program items:

Live

SECRET ACT · Alexander Marcus · Dani Lia · OK KID · Mika Noé · Ceren · Mietze Conte · ok.danke.tschüss · beslik · Nalya · Mariybu · Hinterlandgang · SALÒ · DJ Hundefriedhof · sarah4k · Power Plush · herbst · Nalya · Jiný Metro Sonic · Interventions · Pizza 3 Euro · Annie & Bonnie · Eversame · gac00n · Ida The Young · Johnny Metro · Kikaninchen · lunar trips · Paradox

DJs

Arra Dizzy · Beasty · Community Rockers · D.I.S · EMMY · Eversame · Ford Fiesta · giddy girls · HNDTRX · Ida The Young · Johnny Deep · Kainat · kassisound · krawnless · L Aura b2b Veras Bruder · Level C b2b Silentium · LILY b2b zorroLina12345 b2b LU DJ · LuiV · lunar trips · Lunas · mʊdʌki · NaNi b2b DJ KAIĐO NÏVEK · nokïa · rakutt · SlowDownBrothers · Stereophil · stoehrlinski · strick b2b julzzSubkoØne · T-Jah b2b Tine.Dub · Tine.DubTiner · Tøsche

The program covering society, arts, sports, and economy:

• “Find Someone Who…” – Encounters That Wouldn’t Happen Otherwise Waldakademie Machern
• “It Didn’t Rain That Day” AI Role-Play Prompting Workshop/Installation University of Applied Arts Vienna
• “Come, Let’s Play a Game” – Circus Show and Interactive Discussion on Growing Up Circus Youth Collective “Gewürzspekulatius”
• “Popcorn, Pop, and Politics” – the political talk Freie Presse
• “The Feel Good! Machine” Teresa Stelzer/Fräulein panTo.c
• “Between the Elections” – A fishbowl discussion about hopes, fears, and what’s at stake Ostwärts Podcast
• Actively Engaged – Young Dreams of Empowerment Bertelsmann Foundation, BPM Saxony
• Everything but “Wind of Change”
• Audio installation “Everything Will Be Alright” Konzeptwerk Neue Ökonomie
• Growing Up as a Queer Person in East Germany Cheers Queers Chemnitz
• Augmentation and Aging: Which Technologies We as a Society Should Keep an Eye On
• Eating the World Away Johannes Hoffmann and the “wüst” collective
• Exhibition “how the blue grows out of the cracked concrete” Kulturhaus Arthur
• Exhibition MONOTON MONOCHROM – Photography Institut für Ostmoderne e. V.
• Automating Empathy
• Baseball Bat Years 2.0? – Diverse Engagement in Times of the Right-Wing Counterrevolution taz Panter Foundation
• Form Gangs. Why the East Can Only Be Transformed Together. Kinnings Foundation
• Binhieramleben Cringe Cypher (Live Recording Session) Bertelsmann Foundation
• Body Talks—Our Bodies Tell Stories
• Born broke, stay broke?
• Chemnitz—A Region That Looks Out into the World with a Friendly Eye
• Chemnitz—City of Unseen Beauty Kulturkirche 2025
• Putting Chemnitz on the Conference Map
• Chemnitz Wins Together.
• Cooking with Mama: Zine Reading, Solidarity Auction, and Cooking Together Cooking with Mama
• Cooldown Room Young Voices
• Cornhole—A Sport for Everyone Ore Mountains Cornhole e.V.
• KOSMOS from a Different Perspective ASB Chemnitz
• Your Blind Date with Politics—Less Small Talk, More Listening! Hello Bundestag
• Democracy and You—How Well Do You Know It? Schwarz-Rot-Bunt Foundation x FLIX SE
• Democracy. Your Voice. Your Future.
• The Headmaster of Hogwarts and the Rector of Chemnitz—Between Wands and Science TU Chemnitz
• The Erzgebirgsschanze in Johanngeorgenstadt—A Concrete Colossus Between Burden and Opportunity Institute for East Modernity e.V.
• Digital Tools and Democratic Participation: Who’s Having a Say? Mittelstand-Digital Zentrum Fokus Mensch
• DNB-STEP-WORKSHOP by DNBCHEMNITZ
• “Don’t Knock Me Out”—What Do We Know About Knockout Drops? TU Chemnitz
• Don’t Panic!—Why the End of the World Is Just Another Process of Change
• DON’T WORRY – Exploring Worries and Hopes Through the Connection Between Object and Material
• Drag Show: Glitter, Protest & Empowerment Dust Dolls Collective
• A Touch of the Orient Safran Restaurant Chemnitz
• enter the ring: COSMIC WRESTLING SHOW enter
• Create Your Utopia – Zine Workshop for a Better World Zineclub Dresden
• Europe for Culture, Culture for Europe: A Bridge Between Regional and European Identity? Young European Federalists of Saxony e. V.
• Fire Circle Fire Union
• Hands-On Financial Literacy: Experience School That Empowers You for Life Sparda-Bank Berlin
• Flesh Network Körber Foundation
• Refugees & Migration: Talking With Each Other Instead of About Each Other! Witnesses of Flight
• Questions and Answers. Does the Future Lie in “Gray Energy”? Institut für Ostmoderne e.V.
• FreeWalkingTour Volunteer Program
• Fritz Theater Blinded by the Lights – A Grotesque, Episodic Vampire Duet
• From Zero to Hero. Become a Champion
• GAMERAUSCH CINEGAMING: The Soundtracks of 1990s Gaming and Rave Culture Bertelsmann Foundation
• GAMERAUSCH CINEGAMING: THE BERLIN APARTMENT Bertelsmann Foundation
• GenNow Market of Possibilities Bertelsmann Foundation
• Scent as Migrant Memory – X3 :pp meets Tschuschkopek X3, Fajn e. V.
• Yesterday Is Today and Tomorrow – Visibility of Roma* and Sinti / X3 Live Podcast with Hamze Bytyçi X3, Fajn e. V.
• Does Anyone Still Believe?
• Gray Energy in Industrial Landscapes Institute for East Modernity e.V.
• Greenwashing TU Chemnitz
• Growing Up Without Belittling Others
• GROUND CONTROL – A Night Program. ORBIT
• Halbstark Gabi Reinhardt
• Experience Handball – Action for Young and Old HSC Chemnitz
• Origin Matters. An East German Perspective on Poverty and Social Mobility
• Welcome to “Überstunde – Summer Special”
• Hip-Hop in East Germany as Intangible Cultural Heritage? Initiative Ostbronx / NewKid e.V.
• Hip-Hop & Democracy Workshop: Youth Culture, Freedom, and Us Initiative Ostbronx / NewKid e.V.
• Home? Theater Labaaz
• How to Be a Change Agent: A Space for Transformative Thinking School of Transformation and Sustainability (Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt)
• IMPRO WORKSHOP – “Are You Still Alive or Are You Already Acting?”
• At the Bar at Half Past Seven Heda Bayer
• INfreestyle Bertelsmann Foundation
• Insights
• Youth Voices from the Festival Salon5 by CORRECTIV
• Kosmos Youth Editorial Team Jugendpresse Deutschland e.V.
• 𝕶𝖆𝖋𝖋𝖊𝖊𝖘𝖆𝖈𝖍𝖘𝖊𝖓
• Keynote “What if we were brave?” – Luisa Neubauer
• Keynote On Counter-Power – Arne Semsrott
• AI in War: Why Autonomous Weapons Aren’t Banned—and Who Profits From Them Selbstlaut Collective
• Playing Soccer Instead of Causing Trouble Buntmacherinnen e. V.
• Empowering Children Against Inhumane Views—A Workshop for Parents Network for Democracy and Courage
• Chemnitz Children’s University: Science Goes to School TU Chemnitz
• Children’s Kosmos and DJ Workshop BSZ for Health and Social Services Chemnitz
• AI as a Colleague? – How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Research Freiberg University of Mining and Technology
• Corrupt? Correct! – The Slightly Different Soccer Game Show Heimspiel Chemnitz
• Kosmos Connection Yoga Circle by Shantima Yoga Shantima Yoga
• KOSMOS Threads
• Creative Activities with the “Gefährt*innen” at Orbit Kulturhaus Arthur, ASA-FF e. V.
• The Creative Economy as a Location Factor: How Creative Ideas Transform Regions Creative Saxony
• The Jug (On the Stuck Jug—or the Inflection) Émilie Haus
• Life Story Tales: What Actually Defines a Successful Life Path? Chemnitz zieht an
• Reading & Discussion: After the Fall of the Wall Is Before the Future—The Role of the “Post-Wall Children”
• Reading and Discussion – Muri Darida “King Cobra” Kulturhaus Arthur
• Reading: Hearts Without a Wall
• Reading: Ostflimmern
• Reading: Out of Chemnitz?
• Let’s Talk About Education – with Billy
• Lifestyle Part-Time Work – By Choice, Out of Necessity, or the Future of Work? DGB
• LITTLE GREEN 4roomCompany
• Live Podcast “Class Meets Society”: How Fair Can School Be?
• Loom: Interface to the Textual Multiverse
• Machiavelli – Rap and Politics Bertelsmann Foundation
• MAKE RAP NOT WAR Bertelsmann Foundation
• More Than Categories – What Unites Us Network for Democracy and Courage
• Initiatives Mile
• Melodia sagrada. Music, Movement, and the Art of Creating Belonging
• Merz Discourse Through a Rapid Feminist Lens: Who’s Licking Whose Balls? The Purple Podcast
• Get Involved, Help Shape, Have a Say! Buntmacherinnen e.V.
• Participatory Circus Die Zirkuspause
• Stay Mobile Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired of Saxony e. V.
• Fashion Show Bertelsmann Foundation
• momentum – Pop-Up Exhibition momentum
• Money Matters: Why Financial Literacy Makes Us All Stronger Sparda-Bank Berlin
• MR-808 Interactive Moritz Simon Geist
• Open BüchAir Katapult Bookstore Chemnitz
• Ostbronx – An Exhibition on Hip-Hop in the GDR in an Overseas Container Ostbronx Initiative
• Ostwärts: Conversations on East German Identities Ostwärts Podcast
• Outsourcing in Healthcare
• Prefab Buildings. Modernizing with Care. Institute für Ostmoderne e.V.
• Popcorn for Democracy Black-Red-Colorful Foundation x FLIX SE
• Freedom of the Press – More Than Just a Story SPREUWEIZEN
• Radical Tenderness – A Transformative Movement Practice janne&tabea
• Rhythm & Flow
• Calm in Transition – Collective Meditation in Public Space Tim Kollbach
• Run the KOSMOS Chemnitz Run Club, United Running Club, Antarctica Marathon Chemnitz
• Salsa Introductory Class for Beginners Dance Community Chemnitz e.V.
• Salsatón Kosmos 2026: Community Dance Contest for Everyone Noqanchis‑Zusammenstehen e. V., AMISTAD e. V., AGIUA e. V.
• Sound Garden featuring various DJs throughout the day and a music talk titled “The Best Record of the Year” with Max Rademann and guests Kulturhaus Arthur
• Sensing Sinicization
• Share Your Visions – What Embodied Social Agents Mean for Our Everyday Lives TU Chemnitz
• Performance by LOCALOREZ: COLORS OF MOVEMENT LOCALOREZ
• Safe Spaces Against Right-Wing Violence Initiative Sichere Orte
• Sidekick enter
• Slavery 2.0 ver.di, DGB Chemnitz City Chapter
• Soft Animals Jack Bannerman
• Softness Within Struggle
• Solar Construction – The Symbiosis of Solar Architecture and Solar Energy Use FASA AG
• Saving Until the University Closes? GEW Saxony
• Speedfriending XXL Start with a Friend e. V.
• City of Friendship
• City.Country.Stage. – Independent Arts on the Move Independent Performing Arts Saxony
• Strong Partnerships. Strong Projects.
• Start Without Violence – Boxing as a School for Life Ahmed Taboubi
• Startup or Scam? – The Live Quiz on Ideas and Impact Gründungsgarage Chemnitz, ASA-FF e.V.
• Stasi Headquarters in Leipzig. Unloved and Do Away With It? Institute for East German Modernism e.V.
• Streetband Sonnenberg Paper Lantern Collective
• CTRL + ALT + Neurodiversity 2.0 – A Journey Through Programming Practice, Neurodiversity, and Their Intersections TU Chemnitz
• Chair of the World jung & jung
• Talk of the Future – AI, Communication, and Democracy TU Chemnitz
• Techno-Yoga “Open-Air Session”
• The Crooked Brush: Against the Privatization of Post-AI Creativity
• Table Ball: Inclusive Sport for Everyone Saxony Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired e. V.
• TOGETHER WE BALL 2026 – Community Basketball Athletic Sonnenberg, UNKNOWN BASICS, FACK e.V.’s Makers Program
• TR-808 Jacob Korn
• TEARS (extended)
• TU Chemnitz: The Journey of an Idea—From Basic Research to a Company TU Chemnitz
• United by Beat—The Remix X Reloaded Showcase Saphir Chemnitz e.V.
• Our Future in Colors Jour J
• Corporate Bullshit Bingo: Plain Language Instead of Buzzwords
• Corporate Poetry Slam: Business Meets the Art of Words
• Entrepreneurs Invest in Chemnitz
• Untitled Brain TU Chemnitz
• Falsified, Shared, Harmful: Image-Based Sexualized Violence in the Digital Space DUNKELFELD Podcast
• Diversity on the Back Burner. What’s Next for Civic Engagement & Democracy Work in Saxony? TU Chemnitz
• VISION DUEL – Three People Dream of Democracy
• From Festival to Movement: How Strong Communities Are Built
• What Mushrooms Reveal About the Future
• Watch Party: Air Guitar World Championship Oulu, European Capital of Culture 2026
• Paths Out of Division—Right-Wing Defectors and East Germans of Color in Conversation Mauerecho Podcast
• How Much Is Your (Creative) Work Worth? Creative Saxony
• Business Hub Industrieverein Sachsen 1828 e.V., Chemnitz Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chemnitz Chamber of Crafts, City of Chemnitz
• Business Shapes the Future: A Spirit of Optimism in Chemnitz
• Angry for East Germany—Why We Need to Feel More Connected—PostOst Keynote X3, Fajn e. V.
• Yogilates Shantima Yoga
• Young Voices Rave Young Voices
• A Future for Our Industrial Region—Active, Participatory, Fair! ITAS, IG Metall
• Zumba with Anna.movez
• ZUMBA PARTY by Soul Studios Soul Studios
• ZusammenKlang Area by the SFZ Group SFZ Förderzentrum gGmbH
• Between Pressure to Perform and the Search for Meaning Bertelsmann Foundation
• Between Power and Myth – A Critical Analysis of Current AI Narratives Weizenbaum Institute e. V.