Art festival Begehungs” starts in Chemnitz – a festival of encounters!

Art festival Begehungs” starts in Chemnitz – a festival of encounters!

Things will be exciting in Chemnitz this week, especially for art and culture lovers. The city is preparing for a series of events that will flourish cultural life in the region. It is a colorful program that runs until July 20th, and the focus is on the vernissage of the exhibition “City on the River - City in the River” and the eagerly awaited art festival Begehung. How chemnitz.de reports, Mayor Sven Schulze invites you to the citizens' consultation hour on Thursday, July 17th at 4 p.m. in the town hall. Registration for this has already been completed, but the greeting from Mayor Knut Kunze at the vernissage from 6 p.m. in the Garage Campus on Zwickauer Straße is certainly a highlight of the evening.

Friday, July 18th, will be the highlight of the week. At 7 p.m., Mayor Schulze opens the art festival inspections in the disused Chemnitz-Nord thermal power plant, an impressive location with a 300 meter high chimney. This happens in the presence of organizers and representatives of eins – Energie in Saxony. Andrea Pier, the commercial director of the Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 gGmbH, will also give a welcoming speech.

Art Festival Visits – A festival of encounters

From July 18th to August 17th, 2025, the Chemnitz-Nord thermal power station will be transformed into a creative space for the Bebehungen art festival. This year's festival is entitled "EVERYTHING IS INTERACTION" and is dedicated to burning issues such as resource consumption, species loss and the climate crisis. The event makes the social, ecological and economic consequences of environmental destruction visible and offers space for creative debate. How bpar.digital informed, the exhibition shows 32 international artistic perspectives, including works by renowned artists such as Lara Almarcegui, Olaf Nicolai and Hito Steyerl.

Particularly noteworthy is the Open Call for artists under 30, meaning that around a third of the works on display come from young talents. The festival promotes encounters and exchange, and an artist-in-residence program will also stimulate creativity. Rikuo Ueda, for example, will create a site-specific work that takes up the special features of the location.

A barrier-free experience for everyone

What makes the festival special is not only the impressive location, but also the inclusive and barrier-free orientation. Admission is free and the event is aimed at anyone interested in art. The works produced range from installations and photographs to drawings, sculptures, and video and sound artworks. A quarter of the artworks are created specifically for the festival, which underlines the uniqueness of the event.

In addition to the art offering, concerts, readings, lectures and performances are also planned to round off the program and provide further creative impulses. Historically, the Begehungen art festival was founded in 2003 and has since been one of the most respected art events in Saxony, attracting thousands of visitors every year sachsen-tourismus.de determines.

All in all, the week in Chemnitz promises a wealth of cultural experiences that not only invite you to marvel, but also make you think.