NaN festival
28. November 2025
— 30. November 2025
A three-day festival of computer music celebrating glitches, algorithms, and speculation.
Giga-Hertz Festival for Electronic Music and Sound Art
20. November 2025
— 22. November 2025
Three days of immersive sound art, electronic music, collective listening sessions, and creative workshops in the unique sound dome.
ZeitGenuss 2025
22. October 2025
— 26. October 2025
The ZeitGenuss Festival opens spaces for diversity of perspectives and encounters, weaving together music, dance, word, and media art in extraordinary venues across the city. With unusual formats, it invites audiences to intense, sensuous, and discursive musical experiences.
PRIDE PICTURES
18. October 2025
— 26. October 2025
The 32nd PRIDE PICTURES bring eight days of queer film culture to Karlsruhe.
Farsi Film Festival
18. September 2025
— 21. September 2025
The Farsi Film Festival is aimed at film enthusiasts and people who are interested in Iranian and Afghan culture and the Farsi (Persian) language.
SCHLOSSLICHTSPIELE 2025
14. August 2025
— 14. September 2025
In 2025, the SCHLOSSLICHTSPIELE Karlsruhe will celebrate its 11th edition. Under the motto The Shining Lights of Science, the projections will mark the anniversary of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.
Ping-Poema Festival
02. May 2025
— 03. May 2025
The festival brings together poetry, sound, and performance in a diverse program centered around the work of Lenora de Barros at the Badischer Kunstverein.
INDEPENDENT DAYS | 24th International Film Festival
09. April 2025
— 13. April 2025
The international film festival presents 128 films from 32 countries.
PRIDE PICTURES – Queer Film Festival Karlsruhe
19. October 2024
— 27. October 2024
Once again this year, visitors can expect a colourful mix of films, discussions, parties and a special short film award to celebrate the diversity of queer film culture.
T-Short Animation Film Festival
13. September 2024
— 15. September 2024
The festival offers an insight into auteur animation films that impress with their innovative visual design and profound narrative art.
Cinéfête at the Kinemathek Karlsruhe: French youth film festival
20. June 2024
— 26. June 2024
The long-established school festival brings the diversity of French cinema to life and takes students on an inspiring journey through compelling stories and cultural insights.
next-generation X
05. June 2024
— 08. June 2024
As Europe’s largest meet-up of university studios for electronic music, the international ZKM Festival offers up-and-coming composers a platform to present their new musical developments.
11th edition of the dokKa festival
08. May 2024
— 12. May 2024
This year’s programme offers topics ranging from futuristic visions to a personal examination of faith and identity.
INDEPENDENT DAYS
10. April 2024
— 14. April 2024
21. Silent film festival Karlsruhe
07. February 2024
— 10. February 2024
The Kinemathek and Co. show a wide range of outstanding silent films.
Short Film Day 2023
19. December 2023
— 21. December 2023
To mark the shortest day of the year, different short film days will be hosted in Karlsruhe for two days. The focus is on animated short films and films on the subject of In der Schwebe.
Giga-Hertz-Festival for Electronic Music and Sound Art 2023
06. December 2023
— 10. December 2023
As part of the annual festival, the main prize is awarded at the ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe. This year’s winner is the US-American Laurie Spiegel.
PANTOPIA MUSIC Festival
09. November 2023
— 11. November 2023
Experience transtraditional music in the most diverse forms of mediation at the Badisches Staatstheater
30 years of PRIDE PICTURES queer film festival
21. October 2023
— 29. October 2023
To celebrate the festival’s anniversary, 15 international feature films, documentaries and 3 short film programs will be presented.
ZeitGenuss – The festival for music of our time
12. October 2023
— 15. October 2023
Contemporary music resounds over the stages of the city for the 10th anniversary edition.
SCHLOSSLICHTSPIELE Light Festival
16. August 2023
— 17. September 2023
The façade of Karlsruhe Palace will once again become a canvas for impressive projection mappings by international media artists.
10 years of dokKa
17. May 2023
— 28. May 2023
The Karlsruhe Documentary Festival is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year and is once again presenting diverse documentaries and audio documentaries.
International Filmfest Karlsruhe
19. April 2023
— 23. April 2023
Start of ticket sales. A total of 123 features from 36 countries will be screened at the SCHAUBURG cinema during the the five days of the festival.
Algorave at jubez
This year’s Live Coding Edition will feature both local and international artists.
Hallenbau-Festival 2022
28. October 2022
— 30. October 2022
Three institutions – one building: under the title The Anniversaries! the Hallenbau Festival celebrates 25 years of the Städtische Galerie Karlsruhe and the ZKM | Karlsruhe in the Hallenbau as well as 30 years of the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design.
Pride Pictures Queer Film Festival
22. October 2022
— 30. October 2022
Diversity, acceptance and respect for queer lifestyles. Unique festival starts with pre-opening party and panel discussion.
Seasons of Media Arts – Connected Future
17. September 2021
— 17. October 2021
The media art festival Seasons of Media Arts – Connected Future presents digital, interactive and virtual art at various locations in the city’s public spaces.
PhonoLuxMaschine
11. September 2021
— 30. November 2021
As a presentation platform for media art works, the PhonoLuxMaschine enables a variety of uses. In addition to sound and video installations, the “machine” can also broadcast lectures, films or concerts.
Summer of Culture in Karlsruhe
01. June 2021
— 17. October 2021
Unter dem Motto „Dezentral. Divers. Draußen“ bringt die UNESCO Creative City of Media Arts Karlsruhe kulturelles Leben „zurück“ in die Stadt. Die Besucher*innen erwartet ein einzigartiges, sparten- und genreübergreifendes Kulturprogramm.
Seasons of Media Arts 2020
11. September 2020
— 31. March 2021
Monumental light installations, media projections on facades, artistic interventions, and experimental events will transform Karlsruhe during the Seasons of Media Arts into a stage for innovative, cooperative, and networked media art.
ZeitGenuss-Festival
24. October 2019
— 27. October 2019
The seventh ZeitGenuss-Festival is all about musical media art.
Seasons of Media Arts 2019 – City of Participative Visions
08. August 2019
— 15. September 2019
Within the framework of Seasons of Media Arts, media art installations distributed throughout the entire urban area will be presented decentrally in the urban space, which address the issue of public access to data and thematize the development of the smart city.