You're in the right place! Whether in nature, in the middle of the city, for families, in the countryside, historic or traditional: among Thuringia's TOP hosts, everyone will find exactly the right address.
Event Highlights
2024/2025
Enjoy, marvel, participate - Thuringia delights with an attractive programme all year round. Especially in the summer months, festivals and events at authentic locations, on streets, squares and stages or simply out in nature provide unforgettable experiences.
IBU-Biathlon World Cup
Exciting competitions of the top athletes from all over the world thrill the spectators in the winter sports centre Oberhof in the Thuringian Forest.
09 - 12 January 2025, Oberhof
www.biathlon-weltcup-oberhof.com
Thüringer Bachwochen
At the largest music festival in Thuringia specialising in baroque music, the authentic places where Johann Sebastian Bach lived and worked are the podium and setting for demanding concerts.
21 March – 14 April 2024, Thuringia
11 April - 04 May 2025, Thuringia
www.thueringer-bachwochen.de
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Thuringian State Exhibition 2025
the Mühlhausen museums and the Panorama Museum in Bad Frankenhausen in 2025 under the title "freiheyt 1525 - 500 Jahre Bauernkrieg" (Freedom 1525. 500 Years since the German Peasants’ War). Both towns are central sites of the historical event.
26 April - 19 October 2025, Mühlhausen
10 May - 17 August 2025, Bad Frankenhausen
www.bauernkrieg2025.de
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Köstritzer Spiegelzelt
Small-scale art in a magnificent event tent setting, plus refined gastronomy - this is the combination offered by the Köstritzer Spiegelzelt in Weimar. Every early summer, top acts from the worlds of art and entertainment meet here.
02 May – 16 June 2024, Weimar
May - June 2025, Weimar
www.koestritzer-spiegelzelt.de
GutsMuths Rennsteiglauf
The cross-country run on the Rennsteig is the largest landscape run in Central Europe. Every year, around 15,000 runners, Nordic walkers and hikers take part. The supreme course is the super marathon from Eisenach to Schmiedefeld.
25 May 2024, Thuringian Forest
17 May 2025, Thuringian Forest
www.rennsteiglauf.de
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Thüringer Schlössertage
On the Whitsun holidays, Thuringian castles and palaces open their doors again.
17 – 20 May 2024, Thuringia
06 – 09 June 2025, Thuringia
22 - 25 May 2026, Thuringia
www.schatzkammer-thueringen.de/schloessertage-pfingsten
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Weimarer Sommer
Highlights include the open-air concert night with the Staatskapelle, the Weimar Master Classes of the Hochschule für Musik "Franz Liszt" Weimar, the façade projection festival Genius Loci, the Weimar Art Festival and the events surrounding Goethe's birthday.
Summer 2024, Weimar
www.weimarer-sommer.de
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Krämerbrückenfest
Street theatre, artists and jugglers fill the alleys and squares with music, cabaret and play scenes. Thuringian craftsmen present their products at a medieval market around Krämerbrücke.
14 - 16 June 2024, Erfurt
13 - 15 June 2025, Erfurt (50th anniversary)
www.erfurt-tourismus.de
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Thüringer Schlossfestspiele Sondershausen
The most popular open-air festival in the border triangle of Thuringia, Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt continues the rich musical tradition of Sondershausen. Against the backdrop of the castle, the area is transformed into a special theatre stage.
16 June - 17 July 2024, Sondershausen
www.schlossfestspiele-sondershausen.de
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MDR Musiksommer
Concerts at the most beautiful locations in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia make the MDR Music Summer an unmistakable music festival in Central Germany.
02 – 31 August 2024, Thuringia
www.mdr-musiksommer.de
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26th Ekhof-Festival at Friedenstein Castle
Friedenstein Castle in Gotha is home to one of the oldest baroque theatres in the world with still existing and functioning stage machinery. Here, historical productions with 18th century sets and costumes enchant the audience. the most beautiful locations in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia make the MDR Music Summer an unmistakable music festival in Central Germany.
01 June – 07 September 2024, Gotha
www.ekhof-festival.de
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Rudolstadt Festival
Germany's most important folk and world music festival attracts musicians from all over the world to Rudolstadt. There is music and dance on more than 20 stages - in the park, in the castle courtyard, on the streets and squares of the old town.
04 – 07 July 2024,
03 - 06 July 2025, Rudolstadt
www.rudolstadt-festival.de
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KulturArena
Here, no gladiators but lots of cultural events enter the arena on Jena's theatre forecourt. The festival with concerts, theatre and cinema offers stars as well as newcomers an exciting platform - and the audience the best entertainment. The festival traditionally opens with the theatre's summer spectacle.
03 July - 18 August 2024, Jena
02 July - 17 August 2025, Jena
www.kulturarena.de
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Cathedral Steps Festival
During the DomStufen Festival, the 70 steps of the Domberg are transformed into a spectacular open-air festival stage.
The programme in 2024:
“Anatevka” by Jerry Bock, (original title: Fiddler on the Roof)
02 – 23 August 2024, Erfurt
www.domstufen-festspiele.de
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SonneMondSterne Open-Air
Every year on the second weekend in August, an exuberant audience celebrates one of the largest open-air festivals of electronic dance music on the shores of the Thuringian Sea near Saalburg.
08 - 11 August 2024, Saalburg
07 - 10 August 2025, Saalburg
www.sonnemondsterne.de
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ACHAVA Festival Thuringia
The Hebrew word "ACHAVA" means brotherhood and is the key word for the themes of humanity, peace, tolerance and dialogue that characterise the festival. In addition to great concerts by international artists, there are exhibitions, panel discussions, series of talks and school programmes.
08 – 22 September 2024, Erfurt
07 - 21 September 2025, Erfurt
www.achava-festspiele.de
Weimar Onion Market
Nothing goes on the second weekend in October in Weimar without onions: on the cake, in the soup or in the famous plait - the Weimar onion market is legendary. More than 300,000 visitors enjoy the state of emergency in the city of classics.
11 – 13 October 2024, Weimar
10 - 12 October 2025, Weimar
www.weimar.de
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Caspar David Friedrich
To celebrate his 250th birthday, the works of Caspar David Friedrich, one of the most important German Romantic artists, are returning to Weimar. The exhibition shows the Weimar Friedrich collection for the first time, as well as many other works by Romantic artists.
22 November 2024 - 02 March 2025, Weimar
www.klassik-stiftung.de/en/exhibition/caspar-david-friedrich/
Erfurt Christmas Market
The medieval old town and the cathedral square are the ideal setting for an atmospheric pre-Christmas season. Traditional crafts and Thuringian specialities can be found as well as a 12m high, original Erzgebirge Christmas pyramid.
26 November – 22 December 2024, Erfurt
15 November - 22 December 2024, Erfurt
www.weihnachtsmarkt.erfurt.de
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Weimar Christmas Market
The classical city of Weimar shines with traditions: Germany's first public Christmas tree stood here in front of the house of Johannes Falk, who also wrote the carol "O Du Fröhliche" (O Merry Christmas).
26 November 2024 – 05 January 2025, Weimar
www.weimar.de
Christmas at Wartburg Castle
Wartburg Castle near Eisenach enchants its visitors at this time of year with a historic Christmas market and enjoyable Advent concerts.
On the first three Advent weekends, Wartburg Castle Eisenach
www.wartburg.de
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Lauschaer Kugelmarkt
The birthplace of the Christmas tree bauble is the small village of Lauscha in the middle of the Thuringian Forest. Even today, everything in Lauscha revolves around glass Christmas tree decorations. On the first and second weekend of Advent, regional artisans and numerous glass traders offer Christmas tree decorations and other works of art made of glass at the bauble market.
On the first two Advent weekends, Lauscha
www.lauscha.de
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Sustainable Thuringia
Sustainability is on everyone's lips, and it is important. It's about us and our future, about a healthy environment, healthy people, a fair and just world for everyone. Come along and discover good examples in Thuringia – certified spots, sustainabel offers, national natural landscapes and more!
