Theatre of the world

Location

From 18 June to 5 July 2026, Chemnitz will be in the international spotlight: Germany's largest international theatre festival "Theatre of the World" is coming to Chemnitz - directly following the Capital of Culture year 2025. For three weeks, Chemnitz will be a meeting place for artists, audiences and theatre enthusiasts from all over the world. A lively celebration of the performing arts will take place on stages, in urban spaces and in unusual locations, overcoming borders and bringing together stories from all parts of the world.

Nine international curators from Australia, Canada, Colombia, Argentina, South Africa, Greece, Jordan, India, Senegal and China are responsible for the festival programme. They will meet in Chemnitz in November to select around 40 outstanding productions - works that they have previously viewed in their regions. The result is an inspiring panorama of current theatre forms, languages and perspectives.

The festival is organised by Chemnitz Theatres, the Festival Academy Brussels and the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 GmbH. Since it was founded by the International Theatre Institute (ITI) at the end of the 1970s, "Theatre of the World" has been regarded as one of the most important festivals on the international theatre scene - a showcase for new aesthetic developments and social discourse. The Theatre of the World festival is held in a different German city every three years. After stops in Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt/Offenbach, the festival returns to Saxony 30 years after Dresden in 1996 - and makes Chemnitz the stage of the world once again.