The celebrations to celebrate the Opening of the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 on 18 January will begin at 14:00 with an open-air stage programme in the city centre. All details about the participating artists, the programme schedule and further advance information about the opening weekend can now be found online here. 

Three stages at Neumarkt, Düsseldorfer Platz and Jakobikirchplatz will be filled with acts from Chemnitz as well as national and international artists every half hour until 18:00. These include the Argentinian bandoneon star Omar Massa and the Slovenian band Širom. There will also be performances by the ‘Gundermann Ensemble’ Alexander Scheer and Andreas Dresen and the Dutch-German duo for contemporary music Wouter Jaspers and Theo Nabicht. Anna Mateur from Dresden will be playing with her band The Beuys, pop singer Dilla and the family-friendly metal group ‘Heavysaurus’. The diversity of the Chemnitz music scene can also be experienced with the bands Baumarkt and ME&T, among others.

In addition to the ‘Dancing Neighbours’, a Chemnitz 2025 dance project for people over 60, many other Chemnitz locals will be performing at the start of the Capital of Culture year.

The exact schedule and artists can be found here.

The highlight is the opening show staged by Lars-Ole Walburg and his team at 7 pm in front of the Karl Marx Monument on Brückenstraße.

The Opening Ceremony will take place in the opera house at 4 pm and will be attended by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer, EU Commissioner Glenn Micallef and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Claudia Roth, among others.

The Hartmannfabrik, a former factory building renovated for Chemnitz 2025, will be opened this weekend as a visitor and information centre for the Capital of Culture year. 

The opening programme continues on Sunday with a discussion on Europe in the Hartmannfabrik. There are also various programmes on offer in the Capital of Culture region. For example, the Makerhub Esche-Lab opens in Limbach-Oberfrohna on 19 January.

Saturday, 18.01., Afternoon

 

Hartmannfabrik 

10:00 - 18:00 Information centre Chemnitz 2025 

Stadthalle 

11:00 - 18:00 Programme Showcase 

Düsseldorfer Platz 

14:00 - 14:25 Rock’n Strings 

14:30 - 14:55 Studio W.M. Children's Ensemble 

15:00 - 15:25 Anna Mateur & The Beuys 

15:30 - 15:55 Chamber Music of the municipal music school Chemnitz 

16:05 - 16:30 Me&T 

16:35 - 17:00 Room - Hip Hop Spot 

17:05 - 17:30 Flitzebögen / Young Choir 

17:35 - 18:00 Omar Massa & Boulanger Trio 

Jakobikirchplatz 

14:00 - 14:30 Orchester New Chemnitz 

14:35 - 15:00 Trumpet Quartet of the Chemnitz Municipal Music School 

15:05 - 15:35 Strike 

15:40 - 16:10 Studio W.M. Vielklang Ensemble 

16:15 - 16:40 Theo Nabicht & Wouter Jaspers 

16:45 - 17:15 Baumarkt 

17:20 - 18:00 Širom 

Neumarkt 

14:00 - 14:25 Alexander Scheer | Andreas Dresen & Band 

14:35 - 15:05 Heavysaurus 

15:15 - 15:30 Dancing Neighbours 

15:35 - 16:00 Gran Orquesta de Tango Carambolage 

16:05 - 16:25 Sportensemble Chemnitz des TSV Einheit Chemnitz Süd e. V. 

16:30 - 16:55 Studio W.M. 

17:00 - 17:30 Dilla

17:35 - 18:00 Tuesday Singers 

Rathaus Passagen 

14:00 - 18:00 Children's programme

Rosenhof 

14:00 - 18:00 Kitchen of Nationalities 

Opera House 

16:00 - 17:30 Chemnitz 2025 Official Opening Ceremony

 

Saturday, 18.01., Evening

 

Straße der Nationen 

18:00 - 18:40 Pull-Along  

Brückenstraße 

19:00 - 19:55 Grand Opening show 

Neumarkt 

20:00 - 22:30 Rave 

Opernhaus 

20:00 - 23:30 Chemnitz-2025-Aftershow-Party

Atomino, Brauclub, Satir, Transit, Weltecho 

20:00 - 03:00 Chemnitz-2025-Aftershow-Party 

 

Sunday, 19.01. 

 

Neumarkt 

11:00 - 11:45 Groovin‘ on 

11:55 - 12:15 SOUL Studio 

12:25 - 13:05 Jazzcompany Chemnitz 

Hartmannfabrik 

12:00 - 13:30 Panel Discussion on European policy