Festival-en

OSTEN – A festival in Bitterfeld-Wolfen

OSTEN is a festival for art and mutual interest. It explores and celebrates “the East” as a landscape of change for people, nature, and coexistence. And where else but Bitterfeld-Wolfen can stories of change be told? Like hardly any other city, Bitterfeld, once described as “the dirtiest city in Europe,” is now a model for ecological redevelopment and change. And yet it is a good example of the economic, social, and biographical upheavals that many places in eastern Germany and beyond have experienced.

With the help of art, the OSTEN festival aims to stimulate exchange about the history and present of “the East” and create encounters: art as an opportunity to discover, to act, to make contact and to stay in touch. The festival sees itself as a highlighter and amplifier of the kinetic energy of a region in transition and wants to build something where much of the cultural offerings have disappeared since reunification. OSTEN is aimed at the people of Bitterfeld-Wolfen by developing unusual approaches to the city, and at people from outside who should be made aware of the special nature of this landscape and its history.

All projects and productions from previous festival editions are collected in the archive.

The next edition of OSTEN – Festival for Art and Mutual Interest will take place from September 12-27, 2026, in Bitterfeld-Wolfen.