Flip | Beat | Shape

7 pm
Opening Flip | Beat | Shape
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, auditorium

7:30 – 9:30 pm
Raxli Faxli: “Archimagie!” (World Premiere) // Circus Performance
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, stairwell of the workshop wing and bridge

7:30 – 10 pm
Anhalt University of Applied Sciences: Triadic Dance Club // Dance studio, art, performances, and DJ
> Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Building 8

8 – 8:30 pm
Forum Neuer Zirkus e.V.: “Formenspiele – Versuchsanordnung Zukunft” // Stage performance
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, stage

8 pm
Artist Talk: Astrup & Bordorff with Leoni Fischer
Featuring an interpretation of music from the film *Drainpipe Dreams* by Astrup & Bordorff, performed by cellist and vocalist Mathilde Vendramin.
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, Design Shop Lounge

8 – 9:40 pm
Swing Dancing // Workshop
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, 2nd floor, Room 2.30,

8:30 pm
Bauhaus Ghosts // Choreographic Performance
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, foyer

8:30 – 9 pm
Die Selbstgebaute Musik Band // Experimental Concert
> Outside the Bauhaus Buliding, bridge

9 – 9:30 pm
Palucca University of Dance Dresden: “Tender Silliness / Zärtliche Albernheit” // Stage performance
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, stage

9 pm
Artist Talk: Corinna Ahlers and Dr. Isabella Hermann, analyst and speaker in the field of science fiction
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, Design Shop Lounge

9 – 9:30 pm
Celia Millán, Sorbian National Ensemble: “EXTREM to the Power of 4” (world premiere) // Dance and architecture performance
> Outside the Bauhaus grounds, studio building

9:20–10 pm
Upsala-Circus Zeitz: “Heiterkeit” (world premiere)
// Street circus performance
> Outside the Bauhaus Building, parking lot

9:30 – 10 pm
Die Selbstgebaute Musik Band // Experimental concert
> Outside the Bauhaus Building, bridge

10 – 10:30 pm
Forum Neuer Zirkus e.V.: “Formenspiele – Versuchsanordnung Zukunft” // Stage performance
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, stage

10 – 10:30 pm
Celia Millán, Sorbian National Ensemble: “EXTREM to the Power of 4” (world premiere) // Dance and architecture performance
> Outside the Bauhaus Building, studio building

Featured throughout the evening:

Bettina Mileta: Flagship and Luftikuss// Art installation
> Outside the Bauhaus Building, studio building

Ghosts // Art installation and wayfinding system
> Inside the Bauhaus Building and outside

6 – 10 pm
New Connections // Educational program within the exhibition Glass | Concrete | Metal
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, workshop wing

7 – 11 pm
Choo Choo Bande: Clownish Moments // Impromptu games and performance
> Inside the Bauhaus building and outside

7:30 – 11 pm
Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Berlin Open Lab (UdK Berlin), and metaLAB (FU Berlin): Performative Machines / /pəˈfɔː.mə.tɪv/ (məˈʃiːnz// Exhibition
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, north wing, ground floor

8 – 11 pm
Unguarded Berlin // Performances, sound installations
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, north wing, basement foyer up to the 2nd floor

DJ Unguarded Berlin // Dance hall and DJ
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, north wing basement foyer

1 pm
Start of the centennial raffle (Bauhaus Dessau × Adidas Collection)
> Outside the Bauhaus Building, bridge

3:30 – 6 pm
Astrup & Bordorff: Gong / Bang / Whistle // Exhibition opening
> Bauhaus Museum Dessau, Spatial Stage

6 – 7:40 pm
Juggling // Workshop
> Outside the Bauhaus Building, courtyard lawn

6:30 – 8:10 pm
Swing dancing // Workshop
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, Room 2.30

7 – 9 pm
Anhaltisches Theater Dessau: Season opening // Open-air concert
> Zoo near the Mausoleum

7 – 7:30 pm
Forum Neuer Zirkus e.V.: “Formenspiele – Versuchsanordnung Zukunft”
// Stage performance
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, stage

7 – 7:30 pm
Palucca University of Dance Dresden: “Tender Silliness / Zärtliche Albernheit”
// Stage performance
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, stage

7:30 pm
Artist Talk: Celia Millán
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, Design Shop Lounge

8 – 8:30 pm
Forum Neuer Zirkus e.V.: “Formenspiele – Versuchsanordnung Zukunft” // Stage Performance
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, stage

8:30 pm
Artist Talk: Palucca University of Dance
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, Design Shop Lounge

8:30 – 10:30 pm
Raxli Faxli: “Archimagie!” (world premiere) // Circus performance
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, stairwell of the workshop wing and bridge

9 – 9:45 pm
Festival trail “Lyonel, Laurence, Lore – the musical Feiningers” // Sound installation and performances
> Georgium Park (front area), Orangery, and Seminarplatz

9 pm – 9:30 pm
Palucca University of Dance Dresden: “Tender Silliness / Zärtliche Albernheit” // Stage performance
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, stage

9 pm – 9:30 pm
Laturb // Dance Studio and Concert
> Outside the Bauhaus Building, courtyard lawn

9 pm – 9:30 pm
Celia Millán, Sorbian National Ensemble: “EXTREM Hoch 4” (world premiere) // Dance and architecture performance
> Outside the Bauhaus Building, studio building

9:20 pm – 10 pm

Upsala-Circus Zeitz: “Heiterkeit” (world premiere) // Circus street performance
> Outside the Bauhaus Building, parking lot

9:30 pm
Artist Talk: Unguarded Berlin
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, Design Shop Lounge

9:30 pm – 10 pm
Die Selbstgebaute Musik Band // Experimental concert
> Outside the Bauhaus Building, bridge

9:30 pm
Bauhaus Spirits // Choreographic performance
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, foyer and 2nd floor workshop wing (followed by walking acts throughout the entire Bauhaus Building)

9:30 pm – 11 pm
DJ Stephan Wuthe // Dance hall and DJ
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, Café-Bistro (Club)

10 pm – 1 am
Time Rag Department // Dance Hall and Concert
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, festive area

10 pm – 10:30 pm
Celia Millán, Sorbian National Ensemble: “EXTREM Hoch 4” (world premiere) // Dance and Architecture Performance
> Outside the Bauhaus Building, studio building

10 pm – 1 am
NUJU // Dance Hall and Concert
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, Café-Bistro (Club)

10:30 pm
Artist Talk: Upsala-Circus
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, Design Shop Lounge

10:30 pm
Bauhaus Geister // Choreographic Performance
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, Foyer and 2nd Floor workshop wing (followed by walking acts throughout the entire Bauhaus Building)

10:30 pm – 11 pm
Laturb // Dance Space and Concert
> Outside the Bauhaus Building, courtyard lawn

10:30 pm – 11 pm
Die Selbstgebaute Musik Band // Experimental Concert
> Outside the Bauhaus Building, bridge

11 pm – 11:30 pm
Celia Millán, Sorbian National Ensemble: “EXTREM Hoch 4” (world premiere) // Dance and architecture performance
> Outside the Bauhaus grounds, studio building

11:20 pm – midnight
Upsala-Circus Zeitz: “Heiterkeit” (world premiere) // Circus street performance
> Outside the Bauhaus Building, parking lot

11:30 pm – midnight
Laturb // Dance space and concert
> Outside the Bauhaus Building, courtyard meadow

On view throughout the evening:

Bettina Mileta: Flaggschiff and Luftikuss // Art installation
> Outside the Bauhaus Building, studio building

Ghosts // Art installation and wayfinding system
> Inside the Bauhaus Building and outside

1 pm – 10 pm
Anniversary Raffle (Bauhaus Dessau × Adidas Collection)
> Outside the Bauhaus Building, bridge

6 pm – 10 pm
New Connections // Educational program within the exhibition Glass | Concrete | Metal
> Inside the Bauhaus building, workshop wing

7 pm – 1 am
Choo Choo Bande: Clownish Moments // Improvised games and performance
> Inside the Bauhaus Building and outside

Unguarded Berlin // Performances, sound installations
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, north wing, basement foyer up to the 2nd floor

Anhalt University of Applied Sciences: Triadic Dance Club // Dance studio, art, performances, and DJ
> Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Building 8

Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Berlin Open Lab (UdK Berlin), and metaLAB (FU Berlin): Performative Machines / /pəˈfɔː.mə.tɪv/ (məˈʃiːnz/// Exhibition
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, north wing, ground floor

DJ Unguarded Berlin // Dance hall and DJ
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, basement foyer of the north wing

Opening

The Bauhaus Festival 2026 will be officially opened at 7 pm. Speakers will include Dr Barbara Steiner, Director and Chair of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation; Dr Sebastian Putz, State Secretary for Culture of the State of Saxony-Anhalt; and Robert Reck, Lord Mayor of the City of Dessau-Roßlau. The opening will be accompanied by a musical performance by cellist and singer Mathilde Vendramin. She will perform music from the new film “Drainpipe Dreams” by the Danish artist duo Astrup & Bordorff, which is being screened as part of the new exhibition Gong | Bang | Whistle.

Fri, 7 pm

> Inside the Bauhaus Building, festive area / auditorium

Stage programme (world premieres)

On both days, a two-part stage programme developed by European universities will draw audiences to the festival grounds of the Bauhaus Building.

Forum Neuer Zirkus e.V.:
“Formenspiele – Versuchsanordnung Zukunft”

// Stage performance

What happens when ideas are not just conceived, but brought to life and performed? In this stage project, students from the international circus academies ESAC (BE), Codarts (NL) and SENECA Intensiv Berlin invite you to a performative experiment. Inspired by the Bauhaus, contemporary circus and futurology, movement and interaction give rise to new relationships between body, material and space. Ideas come to life, boundaries begin to dissolve, and the audience becomes part of an open experiment in search of possible futures.

Coordination and direction: Cox Ahlers; Performance and creation: Emilie Benešová (CZE), Yoav Shemesh (AUS), Julie Voisin (FRA), Ana Sophia Duquino (COL), Malkom Georgoulis (GRC), Patricia Leon Garcia (ESP), Marie Buchgraber (GER) and Noemie Mathieu (CAN)

Fri, 8–8.30 pm / 10–10.30 pm
Sat, 7–7.30 pm / 8–8.30 pm
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, stage

Supported by the Goethe-Institut as part of Culture Moves Europe. Funded by the European Union. The content does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.

Palucca University of Dance Dresden:
“Tender Silliness / Zärtliche Albernheit”

// Stage performance

Graduates of the International Master’s Programme in Choreography at Palucca University present their reflections on and reinterpretation of the circus performance developed by Lou Scheper for the opening programme of the Dessau Bauhaus on 4 December 1926. They take Scheper’s small, playful and generous circus world as their starting point to demonstrate through dance how situations perceived as difficult can be transformed through the use of masks, costumes and tender silliness.

Dance performance: Amit Abend (Israel), Yuri Hamano (Japan), Theo Qu Yang (China); dramaturgy, props: Torsten Blume (Bauhaus Dessau Foundation)

Fri, 9–9.30 pm
Sat, 7 – 7.30 pm / 9– 9.30 pm
> Inside the Bauhaus building, stage

Upsala-Circus Zeitz:
“Heiterkeit” (world premiere)

// Circus street performance

Upsala stages this immersive performance as an open laboratory, inspired by the Bauhaus and its exploration of freedom, community and social change. Contemporary circus, object theatre, performance art, movement and experimental music merge to form a shared artistic language. The audience accompanies the artists through play, risk and encounters, becoming part of the action themselves. The focus is on pressing questions: How does freedom arise? What gives people a sense of stability in times of upheaval? Can collaborative creation open up new forms of coexistence?

Participants: Larisa Afanaseva, Iurii Galkin, Dmitri Maksimachev, Daniel Koronkevich (Israel), Daria Penzina, Natalia Nazarova, Maria Chernysheva, Nick Khamov (France), Arina Gribaleva, Georgii Zozulia, Vladimir Nozdrin.

Fri, 9.20 pm – 10 pm
Sat, 9.10 pm – 10 pm / 11.20 pm – midnight
> > Outside the Bauhaus Building, car park

Sponsors: State of Saxony-Anhalt, LOTTO Saxony-Anhalt, Performing Arts Fund

Raxli Faxli:
“Archimagie!” (world premiere)

// Circus performance

The children’s and youth circus from Dessau-Roßlau tells a special story of magic, a playful alchemist and a lost balance. Everyone uses their strengths to regain their balance and, in doing so, discovers entirely new ways of living together.

Artistic Director: Kaleen McKeeman

Fri, 7.30 pm – 9.30 pm (including intervals)
Sat, 8.30 pm – 10.30 pm (including intervals)
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, stairwell of the workshop wing and bridge

Choo Choo Bande:
Clownish moments

// Improvised games and performance

The Choo Choo Bande clown collective draws inspiration from the musical principles and forms of the Bauhaus. It humorously connects the performance spaces, creating its own clownish interactions with the audience and the other artists taking part in the Bauhaus Festival.

Andreas L. Maier, Franziska Pack, Erik A. Werner

Fri, 7 pm – 11 pm (including breaks)
Sat, 7 pm – 1 am (including breaks)
> Inside and outside the Bauhaus Building

Celia Millán, Sorbian National Ensemble:
“EXTREM Hoch 4” (world premiere)

// Dance and architectural performance

As part of this dance-based visual production under the artistic direction of the Argentine choreographer Celia Millán, all the balconies of the studio building will be used for the first time. Featuring dancers from the Sorbian National Ensemble Bautzen, set to music by Rodolfo Corbetta (Argentina). Corbetta drew inspiration in part from Gerhart Münch, a composer associated with the Bauhaus movement. EXTREM Hoch 4 is inspired by Oskar Schlemmer’s “Stäbetanz” and the Sorbian custom of ‘Osterklappern’.
Lighting design: Martin Beeretz

Fri, 9 pm – 9.30 pm / 10 pm – 10.30 pm
Sat, 9 pm – 9.30 pm / 10 pm – 10.30 pm / 11 pm – 11.30 pm
> Outside the Bauhaus Building, studio building

Unguarded Berlin

// Performances, sound installations

As a music label and artistic platform, Unguarded supports forward-thinking artists. For the Bauhaus Festival, the entire north wing will be transformed into a performance space. Singer and composer Petra Hermanova will present a drone performance. She moves between singing and distorted drones, drawing on techniques from folk and sacred music. The transdisciplinary performance project SUM combines dance (Kelvin Kilonzo) and trumpet (Pablo Giw). These works will be framed by DJ performances in the basement foyer and in the Glass Room by “Spydergum”, an electroacoustic ensemble.

Fri, 8 pm – 11 pm (including alternating breaks)
Sat, 7 pm – 1 am (including alternating breaks)
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, north wing, basement foyer up to the 2nd floor

Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Berlin Open Lab (UdK Berlin) and metaLAB (FU Berlin):

Performative Machines / /pəˈfɔː.mə.tɪv/ (məˈʃiːnz/

// Exhibition

The Bauhaus developed visions of human-machine interconnections, machine creativity and performativity that go beyond today’s AI paradigm. Through experiments and interventions using open technologies, Master’s students on the Integrated Design programme at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences engage with AI and explore contradictions, imperfections and coincidences. In a playful yet critical manner, they challenge the performativity of machines, whilst questioning binary gender constructs, neo-colonialism, anthropocentrism and extractive data practices.

Fri, 7.30 pm – 11 pm
Sat, 7 pm – 1 am
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, north wing, ground floor

Bauhaus Ghosts

// Choreographic performance

This poetic dance piece by Celia Millán was developed for the opening of the Bauhaus anniversary celebrations in September 2025 and is an interpretation of the staff and mask dances of the historic Bauhaus stage.

Fri, 8.30 pm, Foyer
Sat, 9.30 pm and 10.30 pm
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, Foyer + 2nd floor workshop wing (followed by walking acts throughout the Bauhaus Building)

The Bauhaus Festivals at the historic Bauhaus building have always been, and continue to be, spaces for dancing set against the backdrop of Bauhaus architecture.

Time Rag Department

// Dance space and concert

The main dance space at this year’s Bauhaus Festival is the festive area, where people used to dance to the music of the day right here at the historic Bauhaus. Consequently, historical dances from the 1920s and 1930s, as well as their contemporary adaptations, can also be performed here. Time Rag Department from Berlin play early forms of jazz and swing. With their own interpretations, the band bring classics from ragtime, swing and New Orleans jazz into the present day.

Sat, 10 pm – 1 am (including breaks)
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, festive area

Laturb

// Dance space and concert

This Bremen-based trio plays synth-pop on 80s-style synthesisers with punk-style guitar, backed by drum machines. With the exceptional voices of the two female singers, various bits of junk, clownish gestures and daring acrobatics, the stage show builds to an emotional shower of confetti.

Sat, 9 pm – 9.30 pm / 10.30 pm – 11 pm / 11.30 pm – midnight
> Outside the Bauhaus Building

NUJU

// Dance space and concert

The band plays Italian turbo-folk with ska. In a circus-like production and with an almost acrobatic stage presence, they sing of freedom, adventure and the fascination of the unpredictable. NUJU explores the world of the circus, where boundaries are crossed. Their high-energy musical spectacle is an invitation to celebrate and dance together.

Sat, 10 pm – 1 am (including intervals)
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, Café-Bistro (Klub)

The Self-Made Music Band

// Experimental concert

The band makes music using objects and sounds that don’t usually play a major role in music: tuned plastic bottles, a singing saw, pots, tiles and homemade stringed instruments. These objects are played both by the four musicians and by small musical machines that stimulate the materials rhythmically.

Line-up: Anna Stark: singing saw and string machine; Wieland “Skinny” Wehr: the Skinnyfon (a drummer’s invention using various materials); Sascha Schneider: beats, sounds and effects

Hajo Toppius: KlickerKlacker machine and live commentary

Fri, 8.30–9 pm / 9.30–10 pm
Sat, 9.30–10 pm / 10.30–11 pm
> Outside the Bauhaus Buliding, on the bridge

DJ Unguarded Berlin

// Dance floor and DJ

The Unguarded DJ set gets the room pulsating, drawing on the spirit of the Bauhaus of the 1920s and translating its experimental, boundary-pushing energy into sound. For the festival, the circus theme is explored: the DJs’ clownish side comes to the fore, transforming the basement of the North Wing into a place full of surprises and pranks. Blending rhythm and slapstick, the result is a set that is as danceable as it is humorous.

Fri, 8 pm – 11 pm (including breaks)
Sat, 7 pm – 1 am (including breaks)
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, north wing basement foyer

DJ Stephan Wuthe

// Dance floor and DJ

The Berlin-based DJ presents exhilarating sounds from original shellac records (78 rpm), ranging from Charleston to tango, swing and mambo. Wuthe is a passionate collector specialising in music from the 1920s to the 1940s. He is regarded as an authority on swing and is the author of the book *Swingtime Deutschland*.

Fri, 9.30 pm – 11 pm (open end)
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, Café-Bistro (Klub)

Anhalt University of Applied Sciences:
Triadic Dance Club

// Dance space, art, performances and DJ

For the fifth time, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, the AG Kultur and the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation are organising the Triadic Dance Club as a space for art, performance and parties. Here you’ll find the ‘Backgrounds’ exhibition featuring works by young artists from Dessau, a bar, as well as video installations and performances by international architecture students based on poems by Hans Arp. The Aero Pavilion, an experimental wind tunnel in which the wind is generated by two bicycles, encourages visitors to move their own bodies. On Saturday, the bar and DJs invite you to party and dance until late into the night.

Fri, 6 pm – 10 pm
Sat, 7 pm – 1 am
> Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Building 8

The Aero Pavilion is funded by the Federal Foundation for Building Culture and supported by the Hugo Junkers Technical Museum and WB Wittenberg Scaffolding.

Juggling

// Workshop

Learn to juggle in 100 minutes, led by juggler and circus educator Andrea Baccomo (Italy, Leipzig) with clownish assistance from the Choo Choo Bande. The aim of the workshop is to discover the basics of ball juggling through technical exercises and creative games – from throws and rolls against the body with a single ball, through to tricks and sequences with two balls, right up to the classic three-ball pattern, the cascade.

Sat, 6 – 7.40 pm
> Outside the Bauhaus Building, courtyard lawn

Swing dancing

// Workshop

Learn to dance like it’s the 1920s in 100 minutes: Lindy Hop and Charleston. You’ll learn simple dance steps in circles, triangles and squares, and then combine them in the Charleston.

Led by: Lotta Weigel (founder and director of the Berlin swing dance school ‘Lotta’s Jitterbugs’) and Stephan Wuthe.

Fri, 8 pm – 9.40 pm
Sat, 6.30 pm – 8.10 pm
> Inside the Bauhaus Building, Room 2.30

Artist Talks in the Design Shop Lounge

// Discussions, exhibitions, bar and shop

A lounge will be set up in the Design Shop, where artists taking part in the Bauhaus Festival can chat with guests in a relaxed atmosphere. With a ‘Flappers Bar’ and selected artistic interventions on the theme of the circus, guests are invited to explore their own creativity. The results of this year’s summer workshop ‘Bühnenmobiles: Circus Made of Tin’ will also be on display here. Participants aged between 8 and 16 created their own metal figures.

Friday:

8 pm: Astrup & Bordorff in conversation with Leoni Fischer

Featuring an interpretation of music from the film “Drainpipe Dreams” by Astrup & Bordorff, performed by cellist and vocalist Mathilde Vendramin.

9 pm: Corinna Ahlers and Dr Isabella Hermann – analyst and speaker in the field of science fiction; political science perspectives, futurology and the performing arts – in particular circus arts in dialogue between theory and practice

Moderator: Burghard Duhm

Saturday:

7.30 pm: Celia Millán, Moderator: Susanne Mittmann
8.30 pm: Palucca University, Moderator: Torsten Blume
9.30 pm: Unguarded Berlin, Moderator: Burghard Duhm
10.30 pm: Upsala-Circus, Moderator: Clarissa Seidel

> Inside the Bauhaus building, Design Shop Lounge

New Connections

// Educational programme within the exhibition

As part of the Bauhaus Festival, the educational programme “New Connections” invites visitors to explore the materials of the anniversary exhibition Glass | Concrete | Metal with all their senses. Educators will engage visitors in conversation, display material samples and, through short demonstrations, provide insights into the unique properties of the materials. This open-format event is aimed at anyone who is curious or interested, encouraging visitors to make their own discoveries, ask questions and reconsider familiar perspectives on the materials of modernism.

Fri + Sat, 6 pm – 10 pm
> Inside the Bauhaus building, workshop wing

Centennial Raffle

The anniversary raffle in aid of the Neue Verbindungen inclusion programme offers yet another exclusive chance to win, amongst other prizes, the unique garments from the Bauhaus Dessau x Adidas collection.

Sat, 1 pm – 10 pm
> Outside the Bauhaus Building, bridge

Flagship and Luftikus

// Art installation

Flagship is a textile installation by the Berlin-based artist Bettina Mileta, created in collaboration with the Kuratorische Werkstatt. Following two previous installations covering the entire façade of the studio building, a new configuration is being presented on the side balconies for this Bauhaus Festival. Complementing this is the new work Luftikus: an ensemble of air-filled textile sculptures that takes up ‘Skydancers’ as pop-cultural objects and transposes their whimsical lightness into the circus setting.

> Outside the Bauhaus Building, courtyard side of the studio building

Ghosts

// Art installation and wayfinding system

Ghosts are sculptural interventions designed by the Kuratorische Werkstatt. They consist of elements from past exhibitions organised by the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, reassembled in playful configurations. Colourful posters featuring expressive typography in the Beta Bauhaus typeface by Camelot Typefaces for the Bauhaus Dessau draw attention to various programme highlights of the Bauhaus Festival throughout the grounds.

> Inside the Bauhaus Building and outside

Astrup & Bordorff
Gong | Beat | Whistle

// Exhibition opening

For their first solo exhibition in Germany, the Danish artist duo Astrup & Bordorff have created a new film that blends the worlds of theatre, music film and performance art. Drawing on archaeological artefacts, models and other clues, “Drainpipe Dreams” speculates on the existence of a forgotten fifth Master House and its inhabitants. The film is complemented in the exhibition by a large-scale installation in the spatial stage at the Bauhaus Museum Dessau.

Sat, 3.30 pm – 6 pm
> Bauhaus Museum Dessau
(Mies-van-der-Rohe-Platz 1, 06844 Dessau-Roßlau)

Anhaltisches Theater Dessau:
Season opening

// Open-air concert

Traditionally, the new season at the Anhaltisches Theater Dessau begins in early September with a grand open-air concert. In 2026, it will kick off for the second time at the very spot where the previous season drew to a close: at the mausoleum in Dessau Zoo. Following the summer holidays, the ensembles of the Anhaltisches Theater Dessau will reunite with their audience for the first time and whet their appetite for the upcoming new productions.

Musical direction: Markus L. Frank, Svetoslav Borisov, KM Wolfgang Kluge; Host: Johannes Weigand; Soloists and ensembles of the Anhaltisches Theater Dessau

Sat, 7–9 pm
> Dessau Zoo, by the Mausoleum
(Querallee 8, 06846 Dessau-Roßlau)

Festival Trail
“Lyonel, Laurence, Lore – the musical Feininger family”

// Sound installation and performances

This trail replaces the festival parade of previous years. It invites visitors to make their journey to the Bauhaus Festival an entertaining one. Three sound installations will be set up along the trail, bringing the music of the Feininger family to life. Stelzen-Art from Bremen will further enhance the experience with visual performances. At the Orangery, there will be a Rueda de Casino with the Dessau Salsa School.

Sat, 9–9.45 pm
> Georgium Park (front area), Orangery and Seminarplatz