Leipzig's Autumn Festivals

Full of Fantasy – Diverse – Creative

It's especially worth visiting Leipzig in the Autumn:

with the Leipzig Jazz Days, the Designers' Open, the Grassimesse Leipzig, DOK Leipzig, the Lachmesse European Festival for Humour and Satire and the euro-scene Leipzig festival of contemporary European theatre and dance, the city offers a wide variety of internationally significant artistic and cultural highlights in a short period of time.

This video clip shows that Leipzig is far more than Bach and the Battle of the Nations.
Leipzig is a sprightly city, where film and theatre collide, and design does the jitterbug.

Only very few German cities can say they host as many high-quality, international festivals as Leipzig. These festivals represent mutual enrichment for the areas of film, theatre, music and art. The Autumn Festivals provide a united focus for these art forms and thanks to their contemporary and daringly challenging formats, they pave the way for Leipzig's cultural future.

Grassimesse Leipzig

Meeting place for artistic elites

The Grassimesse is one of the leading international sales fairs for applied art and design. It takes place in the Grassi Museum of Applied Arts.

This adjudicated fair invites guests to look, buy and gather information, and presents the latest trends and innovations in a variety of sectors – from jewellery to furniture and toys.

In addition to internationally famous artists, graduates and students of European art colleges also show their work. Five exhibitors are awarded the renowned Grassi prizes each year at the opening of the festival.

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The Leipzig Jazz Days

More Than 40 Years of Jazz festival culture

One of the oldest and most renowned jazz festivals in Germany is the International Leipzig Jazz Days. In 2016, it celebrated its 40th anniversary.

Every autumn, the Jazzclub Leipzig presents more than 100 musicians over ten days – heavy-weights and jazz pioneers, as well as innovative newcomers. Concerts are played at the Opera and the Schauspielhaus theatre, in the historical Congress Centre at the Zoo, in churches as well as in numerous scene clubs and in the oldest cinema in the city, UT Connewitz.

With self-initiated projects, commissioned compositions and, above all, a thematic framework, the festival reflects the zeitgeist of jazz: Events in previous years had themes such as "Between Mahler and Miles", "Sound of Heimat" or "Cinematic Jazz". The festival's close connection to the Polish jazz scene distinguishes the Leipzig Jazz Days from many other festivals. Thanks to the traditional "Jazz for Kids" events, the festival also serves as a cultural highlight for the whole family.

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Leipzig Lachmesse –

European Festival for Humour and Satire

This European Festival for Humour and Satire is unique:

international artists make sure you use all your laughing muscles and provide excellent entertainment with splendid humour and biting satire. Particularly outstanding artists are awarded the "Leipziger Löwenzahn" (Leipzig dandelion) festival prize.

The festival offers a mix of political satire, cabaret, music and high-brow comedy. If this festival doesn't make you laugh, then you really have nothing to laugh about!

This European Festival for Humour and Satire is unique:

international artists make sure you use all your laughing muscles and provide excellent entertainment with splendid humour and biting satire. Particularly outstanding artists are awarded the "Leipziger Löwenzahn" (Leipzig dandelion) festival prize.

The festival offers a mix of political satire, cabaret, music and high-brow comedy. If this festival doesn't make you laugh, then you really have nothing to laugh about!

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DOK Leipzig

The Big Documentary Film Festival

DOK LEIPZIG has for over 60 years been one of the leading international festivals for documentaries and animated films and is unique in its combination of these two fields. Every year, the festival attracts around 48,000 visitors from all over the world to the city's cinemas. With more than 300 films from 60 countries, audiences will find fresh insights and new perspectives. The Festival is not only an important platform for directors to show their films to the public for the first time, it is also a major public festival that promotes debate on cinematic art and politics.

From 17 to 23 October, DOK Leipzig will once again be taking place live in the city's cinemas. As in past years, it will be possible to watch the documentaries in participating cinemas in Leipzig (in accordance with the relevant hygiene rules).

DOK LEIPZIG has for over 60 years been one of the leading international festivals for documentaries and animated films and is unique in its combination of these two fields. Every year, the festival attracts around 48,000 visitors from all over the world to the city's cinemas. With more than 300 films from 60 countries, audiences will find fresh insights and new perspectives. The Festival is not only an important platform for directors to show their films to the public for the first time, it is also a major public festival that promotes debate on cinematic art and politics.

From 17 to 23 October, DOK Leipzig will once again be taking place live in the city's cinemas. As in past years, it will be possible to watch the documentaries in participating cinemas in Leipzig (in accordance with the relevant hygiene rules).

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euro-scene Leipzig 2024

The International Dance and Theater Festival in Leipzig

euro-scene Leipzig with strong artistic voices

For the 34th time, euro-scene Leipzig is presenting international dance and theatre guest performances from 5 to 10 November 2024. The acclaimed Polish director Marta Górnicka will be stopping off in Leipzig with a performance of her masterpiece MOTHERS A SONG FOR WARTIME on her European tour. Here, 21 women from Ukraine, Belarus and Poland counter the violence of the Russian war of aggression with a great deal of warmth and solidarity – and the concentrated power of their voices. HARMONIA was created by the Hungarian choreographer Adrienn Hód with the dance company of Theater Bremen. The ensemble of ten dancers celebrates human togetherness and physical diversity with exuberance and self-irony. And the legendary fitness videos of Hollywood icon Jane Fonda inspired Italian choreographer Silvia Gribaudi. In the brilliant one-woman-show R. OSA, the well-known actress Claudia Marsicano turns the idealized image of a woman's body completely on its head.

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