Overwhelming public response to THEATER DER WELT in Chemnitz 
Festival achieved an attendance rate of over 90 per cent across all events 

With almost 17.000 visitors and an attendance rate of 91,8 percent, the THEATER DER WELT festival comes to a close this weekend. The fact that most performances were sold out is a testament to the festival’s enormous popularity with audiences. “Even in the run-up to the event, there was great interest and curiosity about the programme, and this was fully confirmed over the three weeks of the festival,” says Stefan Schmidtke, one of the three festival directors. “For me, this came as no surprise, as Chemnitz had already shown itself to be a cosmopolitan city during its time as European Capital of Culture 2025. The fact that, with funding from the city, the state and the federal government, we were able to bring the festival to Chemnitz straight afterwards was a wise and far-sighted decision in terms of cultural policy, one that ensures the positive impact of the Capital of Culture year will continue to resonate for a long time to come.” Also thanks to extensive media coverage reaching as far as Australia and a reach of millions via social media channels – bolstered by the participating artists from Indonesia, Iran, the Czech Republic, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Japan, France, South Africa, Colombia and many other countries – Chemnitz remains in the international spotlight.

Many people attended several events during the three weeks of the festival. Around a third of the audience travelled came from outside Chemnitz, including numerous national and international theatre professionals. The festival’s international programme was complemented by introductions and post-performance discussions with the artists after all performances. The huge public interest in the public discussions with artists from all over the world has shown that theatre is an indispensable space for encounter and exchange. 

“For three weeks, the heart of the international theatre world beat in Chemnitz. Squares, stages and streets became places of encounter, wonder and shared experiences. People from different backgrounds engaged in conversation, celebrated the diversity of the arts and rediscovered the city,” says festival director Christoph Dittrich. The festival’s programme was developed through a collective curatorial process that is unique to date: nine international curators jointly invited a total of 33 productions from all over the world to Chemnitz. This enabled them to present an enormous variety of different theatre forms and aesthetics.

“This unique curatorial experience reaches far beyond this festival, says Inge Ceustermans, one of the Festival Directors. “It is transforming all of us - artists, curators, audiences and partners. The profound insights and inspiration we’ve gathered will shape our personal growth and guide both our individual and collective next steps. It results in next collaborations, ideas and ways of working together beyond our borders and identities. While division and polarization and outright racism become more outspoken by the day, this collaboration is a strong sign of hope for our common humanity.” In total, three world premieres, 11 European premieres and 18 German premieres were staged. The extensive free music programme featured more than 200 events in total, involving over 400 artists at various venues. Hall 5 provided a unique and exclusive venue on the Spinnbau site for the duration of the festival; it is expected to return to industrial use after the festival. The festival centre in the Spinnbau garden was very well received by visitors and has sparked ideas for future use, for example for smaller summer theatre formats.

“The success of the THEATER DER WELT festival fills us with great gratitude and also with confidence,” says Christoph Dittrich, Artistic Director of Theater Chemnitz, which hosted the 17th edition of the THEATER DER WELT festival. “It is the result of the commitment of many artists, staff members, partners, sponsors, volunteers and a curious, open-minded audience. Together, they have demonstrated the potential that lies within Chemnitz. I see these experiences as both a mandate and an encouragement: to continue along the path we have chosen, to further strengthen the cultural infrastructure and also to tackle the economic and structural challenges with courage, creativity and shared responsibility – for the good of the city and its people.’ THEATER DER WELT is a festival helt by the German Centre of the International Theatre Institute (ITI) and has been hosted by a different German city every three years since 1981. Commenting on the current edition in Chemnitz, ITI President Yvonne Büdenhölzer said: “Theater der Welt has impressively demonstrated in Chemnitz that every edition of the festival writes its own unique story – shaped by the city, its people and the artistic perspectives that come together here. The international curatorial collaboration with nine curators has highlighted the diversity of curatorial practice and demonstrated just how enriching a multitude of voices and dialogue are for the performing arts. It was a celebration with and for Chemnitz.”

Theater der Welt 2026 in Chemnitz co-curated by 9 festival leaders of The Festival Academy

33 propositions from all continents, 9 curators: Rodrigo González Alvarado from Argentina, Faye Kabali-Kagwa from South Africa, Simon Abrahams from Australia, Joshua Dalledonne from Canada, Nikos Mavrakis from Greece, Aya Nabulsi from Jordan/Palestine/Saudi Arabia, Srishti Ray from India, Ndèye Mané Touré from Senegal, and Yuan Zhang from China!  The festival organised by ITI Germany in partnership with Theater Chemnitz, Chemnitz 2025 and The Festival Academy has kicked off with top class international theatre alongside a free programme of talks, concerts and DJ sets. For three weeks, from 18 June until 5 July, Chemnitz is a gathering place for artists, audiences, and theater enthusiasts from around the world. It is amazing to experience the festival finally, after a 2-year long process facilitating this co-curation process with 9 young festival leaders coming from The Festival Academy community counting today 1700+ festival leaders from 140+ countries.  

This successful experience offers a deep reflection on international festival curation and whose stories are being told, the festival having been curated by these leaders from their local perspectives and lived experiences. Daily public conversations with the curators and the artists are also sparking new ideas on how to perceive our world from multiple perspectives and stories,  how to exist within it and relate to/ care for each other and our environment and sharing practices to transform our societies. Artists are visionaries and project possible future worlds, they always work with chaos, crisis and insecurity and have incredibly creative tools to adapt in a rapidly changing world. 

Discover the full programme on https://www.theaterderwelt.de

The 17th edition of THEATER DER WELT brings together a wide spectrum of contemporary performing arts, reflecting a diversity of artistic forms and cultural perspectives. Developed for the first time by a nine TFA Alumni co-curatorial team, the programme highlights how artists working in different parts of the world engage with shared global questions. Across the programme, recurring themes include identity, origin, and belonging, often shaped by transnational biographies and layered cultural backgrounds. Questions of power, visibility, and representation are explored alongside Indigenous perspectives and the ongoing impact of colonial histories and resource exploitation. Political realities and their social consequences also form a strong focus. A number of works address conditions shaped by migration, labour, and rapid societal change, while others reflect on the effects of conflict, collective memory, and the erasure or rewriting of histories. Geopolitical tensions and their impact on communities—particularly in relation to current global conflicts—are examined through a range of artistic approaches.

At the same time, the programme explores different forms of coexistence and community, including alternative family structures and participatory formats that invite audiences to actively engage. Questions of how we live together, share resources, and imagine futures are central to many of the works presented. These themes are expressed through a broad range of aesthetic approaches, from text-based and visual theatre to puppetry, music theatre, and immersive and extended reality formats. Contemporary reinterpretations of traditional material sit alongside technologically driven performances, creating a dialogue between different artistic languages and forms of storytelling.

Audiences are invited not only to attend performances but also to take part in discussions and encounters with artists before and after events. Parts of the programme are specifically designed for young audiences and families, and include free and participatory offers.

THEATER DER WELT is a festival of the German Centre of the International Theatre Institute (ITI), held every three years in a different German city. The 2026 edition is organised by Theater Chemnitz in cooperation with the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 gGmbH and the Festival Academy Brussels.

The full programme is now available online here.

THEATER DER WELT, Germany’s most significant international theatre festival, has announced the artistic direction for its 17th edition in Chemnitz in 2026. As outlined in the festival’s bid, artistic responsibility will be shared among nine international curators.

The festival’s core values—partnership, equality, sustainability, interdisciplinarity, and digitality—will guide the development and exploration of new collaborative models. At the heart of the festival team’s work is the belief that art is created under different conditions. Globally, the festival will seek to recognize commonalities, understand differences, and make them artistically and aesthetically tangible in an interdisciplinary and individual way.

Yvonne Büdenhölzer, President of the International Theatre Institute, German Centre / ITI: "With this new curatorial approach, we are further developing the long-standing festival THEATER DER WELT. I am delighted to entrust the curatorial responsibility to a group of transnationally active curators who bring their diverse local perspectives to global issues and will present shared artistic visions for Theater der Welt 2026 in Chemnitz."

Minister of State for Culture, Claudia Roth: "From the European Capital of Culture 2025 to the international capital of performing arts: With THEATER DER WELT 2026, Chemnitz is securing another internationally acclaimed cultural event for the coming year. This solidifies Chemnitz’s position as a vibrant cultural city in eastern Germany."

For the first time in the festival’s history, its organization will be handled by a five-genre theatre, an international training and networking organization, and a local cultural producer. Together, Theater Chemnitz, The Festival Academy, and the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 gGmbH will host THEATER DER WELT in Chemnitz from June 18 to July 5, 2026.

The festival's directorial team consists of Christoph Dittrich (General Director of Theater Chemnitz), Inge Ceustermans (General Director of The Festival Academy), and Stefan Schmidtke (Managing Director, Program of the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 gGmbH).