Festival weekend in the Erzgebirge

Aue-Bad Schlema has established itself on the cultural map as a late-summer highlight for fans of brass band music. On the third weekend of September, from 18 to 20 September 2026, brass band enthusiasts from many countries will once again flock to the spa town.

Every year, thousands of music-loving visitors flock to the European Brass Band Festival to celebrate music without borders in the Ore Mountains. In the heated marquee, which seats 2,200, two stages provide a non-stop programme of brass band music – from the opening ceremony right through to the final concert.

Sunday becomes a participatory stage

In 2026, the festival will take a fresh approach: the third day of concerts is being reimagined. “We’re taking a chance on something we’re really looking forward to,” says Mario Unger-Reißmann, spokesperson for the host organisation, the Aue-Bad Schlema Miners’ Wind Orchestra.

The centrepiece of the new programme is a joint concert on Sunday afternoon, which is expected to last around an hour. “We’re inviting anyone who’d like to play with us and our guests to come up on stage,” says Unger-Reißmann, explaining the idea. Anyone who enjoys making music can be part of this performance – and thus part of the festival.

You can find the programme for this joint concert here: https://www.blasmusikfest.eu/europa-klingt/ No booking is required. The festival in Bad Schlema is traditionally opened with a joint concert featuring all the orchestras – and now, with the new ‘play-along’ concert, the closing event will also have its own joint highlight.

Everyone is aware that the new format needs to develop. “This won’t be a sprint, but a marathon. But we hope it will gradually take root.” The aim is to bring brass band music to life and revitalise the community.

Everyone is aware that the new format needs to develop. “This won’t be a sprint, but a marathon. But we hope it will gradually take root.” The aim is to bring brass band music to life and revitalise the community.

Orchestra 2026 – Sounds from eight nations

Thirteen bands from eight countries are taking part in the 33rd European Brass Band Festival in Aue-Bad Schlema. They are bringing their brass band traditions, musical styles and stories to the Ore Mountains.

The following orchestras will be taking part in 2026:

• Bergmannsblasorchester Aue-Bad Schlema (Germany)
• Blaskapelle der Freiwilligen Feuerwehr Carlsfeld (Germany)
• Musikverein Stadtkapelle Herrenberg (Germany)
• Musikverein Lichtenstein/Sachsen (Germany)
• Jugendblasorchester Grimma (Germany)
• The Jazztronauts of Bergmannsblasorchester (Germany)
• Bürgermeister Musikkapelle – Die Markbrothers (Austria)
• Harmonie Volketswil (Switzerland)
• Orchestr VŠB-Technické univerzity Ostrava (Czech Republic)
• Acceler8 Band (United Kingdom)
• Blaaskapel Freunde Echo (Netherlands)
• Pihalni orkester Krško (Slovenia)
• Koninklijke Fanfare „Vermaak na Arbeid“ Rijkevorsel (Belgium)

The line-up thus covers a wide range: from the Ore Mountains through Saxony and Baden-Württemberg to Austria and Switzerland, and from the British brass scene via the Netherlands and Belgium to ensembles from Slovenia and the Czech Republic.

A sense of community that lingers

The European Brass Band Festival is organised and hosted by the Bergmannsblasorchester Aue-Bad Schlema e.V., which preserves the mining tradition of the Erzgebirge UNESCO World Heritage region through music.

With the new joint concert on Sunday, the festival is placing even greater emphasis on the idea that ‘making music brings people together’. When orchestras from eight nations take to the stage alongside musicians from the region, a soundscape is created in which borders no longer matter – all that remains is the shared joy of brass music.

Aue-Bad Schlema thus becomes a meeting place for brass musicians, fans and curious visitors who want to experience non-stop brass music for a whole weekend and, at the end, have the chance to immerse themselves in that festival atmosphere.

Dear friends of brass band music,

Music brings people together, fosters connections and fosters understanding where words sometimes fall short. The Europäisches Blasmsukfestival in Aue-Bad Schlema has for many years been a shining example of this unifying power. For the 33rd time, musicians from across Europe and numerous guests are gathering in the Erzgebirge to celebrate the diversity of wind music together. I would like to extend a warm welcome to you all.

With its international appeal and great popularity, the European Brass Band Festival has long been an integral part of cultural life in our region and far beyond. Thirteen bands from eight countries will be performing this year, demonstrating once again in impressive fashion that musical enthusiasm knows no bounds. At the same time, the festival serves as an important ambassador for the Erzgebirge their hospitality and their cultural identity. The connection to over 800 years of mining and metallurgical history is particularly palpable here. The ‘Steigerlied’ (miners’ song), recognised as intangible cultural heritage, and the components of the UNESCO World Heritage Site ‘Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region’ are expressions of a living tradition that continues to this day.

I am particularly pleased that the festival is taking a new direction this year: with the joint performance on the Sunday of the festival, musicians from the region are invited to become part of the event themselves. In this way,
the idea that ‘music brings people together’ becomes a shared experience that strengthens the community and allows people to experience the joy of making music first-hand.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to everyone who, through their great personal commitment, has made this extraordinary festival possible: the organisers, the participating orchestras, the sponsors and supporters, and the many volunteers.

I wish all the performers and guests three unforgettable days at the festival, filled with musical highlights, warm encounters and boundless enthusiasm for brass music.

With a hearty ‘Glück auf’

Rico Anton
District Administrator of the Erzgebirge District

Dear ladies and gentlemen, dear friends of brass music, dear guests of the city and dear participants,

For more than three decades, the Bad Schlema district has been transformed into a stronghold of brass band music in September. What began in 1992 as a small club festival to mark the 25th anniversary of the Aue-Bad Schlema Miners’ Brass Orchestra has developed into one of the largest brass music festivals in Europe. The music association can rightly be proud of this achievement.

This festival thrives on great commitment, passion and impressive voluntary work. All of this cannot be praised highly enough. It deserves all our utmost respect and a big compliment!

Over three festival days, visitors can expect 46 concerts on two stages in a heated marquee with around 3,000 seats, two colorful parades with around 1,000 participants. In addition to first-class entertainment and musical variety, the festival also ensures encounters and helps to turn strangers into friends. It fulfills an important role as an ambassador for international understanding and enriches social life far beyond the Ore Mountains.

The program spans a wide range: from swing and big band sounds to traditional folk music and modern rock and pop arrangements. The festival thus represents the entire diversity of brass music and brings together people from different backgrounds, generations and cultures. Because music connects!

I wish you, dear guests, three eventful festival days full of music, joy and unforgettable impressions here in the heart of the spa town of Bad Schlema!

A hearty Glück Auf!

Franz Heinrich Kohl
Lord Mayor of the large district town of Aue-Bad Schlema

If you don’t want to buy tickets online, you can now also buy them at the two advance booking offices at the lower advance booking price (plus advance booking fee). Tickets are no longer available at our office. We from the Bergmannsblasorchester Aue-Bad Schlema are organising the brass band festival on a voluntary basis. That’s why we need the time in the first three weeks of September for many other things that still need to be organised, even though the audience is very important to us. We are all the more pleased that we have the support of the guest information centre and the travel agency.

The programme is available as a PDF download here:

Download programme as PDF file

PROGRAMM, ORCHESTER,
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14 orchestras from 9 countries

14 orchestras from nine countries will travel to our beautiful Ore Mountains and turn Aue-Bad Schlema into the brass music capital of Europe for one weekend. 44 concerts over three days and two parades guarantee an atmospheric weekend. So the Hammerfestival with your friends will be a hammer party with a hammer audience that 500 musicians are looking forward to!

14 orchestras | 9 countries | 44 concerts – these are the facts. The atmosphere only comes from you, the audience. Look forward to three days of boundless music in the Ore Mountains! It’s going to be another awesome festival! You and your buddies don’t have a ticket yet? Then book your place with us in the Blasmusikarena now!

Brass band fans can finally celebrate again. The 23rd European Wind Music Festival / 29. International Music Festival is to take place this year. This has been decided by the board of the Bergmannsblasorchester Aue-Bad Schlema.

President Thomas Schaumberger: “After a two-year break, we want to get back on track. The orchestras are in the starting blocks and are looking forward to the brass band fans in the Ore Mountains. The corona pandemic has slowed us down in 2020 and 2021. Now we hope that in September 4000 people and 800 musicians from all over Europe will be able to celebrate together in our big marquee.”

The association wants to organize one of the largest brass music festivals in Europe on the third weekend of September 2022. From 16.09. – 18.09.2022 Aue-Bad Schlema will finally become Europe’s brass band capital for the 29th time.

For visitors who have already bought an admission ticket online for the postponed dates, there is good news: Tickets purchased so far remain valid.

It was finished just before the festival: The new ‘Brass Music Festival’ app. Here you can find all the information, photos and videos relating to the European Brass Music Festival. One new feature, for example, is a live programme with the orchestras’ current playing times. If you have activated push notifications, you will receive the most important messages directly on your mobile phone. There will be special offers for food and drink under the menu item Vouchers. The app is free and can be downloaded for iOS and Android devices. But brass music fans will not only be kept up to date on the three festival days. Throughout the year, there will be news in the app, for example about the participating orchestras or early booking discounts on ticket sales.

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
Friends of wind band music,
And guests of our city,

From the 20th to the 22nd of September 2019, the district Bad Schlema will turn into a center of wind band music once again. Over the course of three days more than 60 concerts will be played on two stages in a marquee with 4.000 seats. On top of that there will be two big parades with 1.000 participants each. The accomplishment of organizing and carrying out this event was one of the main reasons the town Aue-Bad Schlema qualified for the Tag der Sachsen 2020. At this point I would like to thank the organizers and everyone who helped with making this event possible and complement them for what they have accomplished.

The marquee will be located at the Halde 65 in Bad Schlema going forward. The redevelopment is coming along well. Since January 2018 the mining waste heap has been leveled down, and once it is finished the developed area is supposed to be used. The launch of the Wismut project was in January 2018. Just recently an administrative agreement about the redevelopment of former Wismut mining sites was signed. This makes projects similar to ours possible in the upcoming years.

The Wind Band Festival is unquestionably one of the annual highlights in our city besides the Auer Stadtfest (city festival). The event exists since 1992 and was renamed to “Europäisches Blasmusikfestival” (European Wind Band Festival) in 1998. By now it even developed into a “Festival mondial or rather international”.

With the participation of the South American band “La Estrella” last year, which brought young light-heartedness and Columbian rhythms, the festival kept up with the times while still holding onto traditions. The different wind music genres represent the diversity of this music from Europe and the world. Visitors are presented with a wide musical spectrum featuring Swing and Big Band sound as well as Folk music and arrangements of modern Rock and Pop. Through the festival, people from many different backgrounds and many different regions are brought together because music connects us, just like bridges do. I wish you all a lot of enjoyment on three exiting festival days!

A warm Glück Auf!

Heinrich Kohl
Lord Mayor of the city of Aue-Bad Schlema