17. Umsonst & Draussen Festival in Dresden

In the organizer's words:

artderkultur e.V. and its volunteers are once again looking forward to welcoming guests and bands to what is still the only Umsonst & Draußen festival in Saxony in 2025. For the 17th edition, the extremely weather-tested crew will be welcoming the audience to the comparatively small, but meanwhile heartfelt event area below the Garrison Church. So arriving early not only ensures a good spot on the rustic and cozy grounds, but also the chance to get the broadest possible impression of the usual colourful mix of music that is known to characterize the festival.

Umsonst & Draußen are not just empty words - admission is of course free and there is still no roof over your head.

Guests can expect the characteristically creative DIY space design, relaxed people at the entrance and behind the bar and a stage that will be packed over three days with a varied line-up of regional and national bands away from the mainstream.

Thursday, the opening day, is always reserved for a special act. This year it will be the band Sandra Claus, whose colorful mix of well-known pop/rock and indie songs will put the audience in a good mood and increase their anticipation for the festival weekend.

The live music is scheduled to start at 7 pmon Friday. However, if you want to be there a little earlier, you are welcome to join us from 6 pm for canned music and well-chilled drinks on tap or from the mix bar before Tancred, a young rapper from Neustadt, opens the festival Friday. Afterwards, the band ŸDEG from Berlin will pick up the pace with their fast-changing post-punk songs, before the Czech band Ida The Young take things a little slower and more atmospheric with their exciting experimental indie folk/alt rock. Quittung from Leipzig, who close the Friday with German-language, alternative rock with piano, will be remembered by the audience as a musical experience somewhere between Rio Reiser, Danger Dan and Schnipo Schranke.

On Saturday, the site can be visited from 3 p.m. to get in the mood for the long festival Saturday with discreet sound at the open bars. The international choir Sing Asylum, which has been performing songs from the many different home countries of its members since 2015 and is actively committed to democracy, inclusion, tolerance, participation, justice and cultural diversity, will open the festival from 3:30 pm. Singer-songwriter Annaverse will continue the relaxed afternoon with her folky and pop-influenced songs, before Sugar Ko:ma will bring some post-punk movement to the square. Fans of more experimental music will get their money's worth with Makroplastik, before the Polish band Godot - no less experimental - embellish the wait for the last band of this year's festival. This year, the honor goes to The Antikaroshi , whose sound with elements of post-rock, math, noise and jazz is symbolic of the musical diversity that has always characterized our Umsonst & Draußen festivals.

The Dresden Umsonst & Draußen Festival (also known as the Flanschrock Festival) was launched 17 years ago by artder kultur e.V.. Since the early 1970s, Umsonst & Draußen has stood for festivals with Free admission and bands and artists who perform mainly out of idealism and largely free of charge. Culture in general and music in particular should be accessible to everyone and beyond commercial interests - an approach to which artderkultur e.V. has consistently committed itself since 2004.