Frankfurt Lab – F°LAB Festival 2026

ARCHIV:

F°LAB Festival 2024

Program overview 2026

ARCHIV:

F°LAB Festival 2024

F°LAB Festival 2026

The Frankfurt LAB: What is it? From October 1-4, 2026, the F°LAB Festival offers many opportunities to find out over four days packed with art from our partner institutions: with high-profile concerts, energetic dance battles, bold performances, walking acts with music and dance, and installations. All by established artists, students, and newcomers from the independent scene. In between and afterwards, body and mind can be set in motion in workshops. And on the premises of Schmidtstraße 12, surrounded by industrial charm, there will be extensive discussions, celebrations, and dancing.

All venues are located in Frankfurt LAB or on the premises of Schmidtstrasse 12. The only exception is the urban space performance “Spuren” (Oct 2, 3–6 PM). For this, it is sufficient to be in Frankfurt at the start time and join the linked signal group and follow the instructions.

Ongoing Formats

PILLOW TALKS

Two people lie side by side in bed and talk. We invite all visitors to engage in conversation in this unique setting during Pillow Talks – with artists, festival organizers, and other visitors. Whether it’s about the program, the world, or the weather.

Lying in bed changes the conversation. Perhaps you’re especially cautious. Perhaps you’ll ask more personal questions, even though you don’t know each other. Perhaps you’ll feel self-conscious and awkward because of your closeness to a stranger. Perhaps you’ll enjoy the refined politeness that comes naturally from this unusual situation. Or perhaps you’d rather sit on the edge of the bed to maintain a little more distance. The rules are simple: If there’s an open spot in the bed, you can lie down and start a conversation. The pillows handle the greetings and farewells. The conversation can be ended at any time. On a board at the foot of the bed, you can read each day who you can talk to and when. Many of the festival’s artists can also be found there.

Concept: Philipp Scholtysik

Venue: Frankfurt LAB

CAMPUS LAB

Exhibition of the BA Architecture program of Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences

How can a building designed for dance, theater, and music become more than just a performance venue? The CAMPUS LAB exhibition showcases experimental bachelor’s theses from the Architecture program at Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences that explore this question. During the summer semester of 2026, under the guidance of Prof. Stefanie Eberding, Dipl.-Ing. Anke Wünschmann, Prof. Dr. Timo Carl, and Prof. Dr. Holger Techen, the students developed speculative designs for a new Frankfurt LAB building on the former Goethe University campus in Bockenheim some of which also include workspaces for the DFDC.

Particular attention was paid to the idea of how a theater can simultaneously serve as an open space for its neighborhood. The foyer, café, forecourts, and open spatial sequences were examined not only as pathways and spaces for breaks, but also as potential “third places”: low-threshold meeting spots beyond the home and workplace, where people can linger, encounter one another, and participate in cultural life—regardless of whether a performance is taking place and without having to buy anything.

The works are deliberately conceived as academic experimental setups. They explore spatial possibilities without prejudging a final plan for the site. Drawings, collages, visualizations, and models illustrate the design process and open up ideas for new forms of production, performance, and gathering.

Venue: Main Entrance Kommunikationsfabrik, Schmidtstrasse 12

SEE YOU SOON – Thoughts on and about a theater of the future

What does the theater of the future look like? An installation with letters, audio collage, film and space for your own visions.

By: Hannah Meyer-Scharenberg, Judith Schaefer, Claud Teichmann, Eva Stallbaum, Martin Brüggemann, Hanna Franke

Location: Frankfurt LAB & Z-Zentrum

THU 10/01: 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM

FR 02.10.: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

SAT 03.10.: 3:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Sun, Oct 4: 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm

THURSDAY 01.10.

5:30 PM, Frankfurt LAB

Pre-Opening:

(RASIER MICH)

DOES MY SILENCE PROVOKE YOU?

Performance von Lena Meral Albrecht

6:30 PM, Frankfurt LAB

Festival opening with a welcome address by Dr. Susanne Völker, Managing Director of Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain

BOCCALERO

Dance Performance by Laura Stellacci

9:00 PM, Frankfurt LAB

CARAMELIZED

Dance Performance by Micaela Odriozola Maglie

from 9:30 PM, Frankfurt LAB, free admission

VEXING

Party with DJ Laura Stellacci

From the Chicanx punk scene to Latin club, bass, and experimental. An exploration of the legendary club The Vex in L.A.

FRIDAY 02.10.

3:00 – 6:00 PM, RMV fare zone 1

TRACES

Performance by Ben Denke

7:00 PM, Frankfurt LAB

TREMBLING HEART, PANICKED DESIRE (THIS IS NOT A PARTICIPATORY PERFORMANCE)

Performance by Marie Kübler

8:00 PM, Frankfurt LAB

FLOOR ON FIRE

Tanzbattle

from 10:00 PM, Frankfurt LAB, free admission

DER FLOOR BRENNT WEITER

DJ Ludi Rockoon from Dresden provides the soundtrack for the afterparty.

SATURDAY 03.10.

3:00 PM, Meeting point Frankfurt LAB, Admission free

Open Rehearsal:

BA TANZ TRIFFT PERCUSSION

Walking Act by the HfMDK Frankfurt

3:00 PM, Frankfurt LAB, free admission

CRITICAL CAKE

Critique & Cake with ASJA & Nora Schneider

3:00–7:00 PM, Frankfurt LAB, free admission

CHINA BOX

Installation by Yinfu Gao

4:00 PM: A FEAST THAT NEVER SITS STILL with July Yang

5:00 PM: UNLUCKY COOKIE Workshop with Sichi Li

6:00 PM: STORY BOX Workshop with Yinfu Gao

3:00 PM – 9:00 PM, Singvogel Gesangskabinen, free admission

PC: PLAYABLE CHARACTER / PERSONAL COMPUTER

Installation by Sonja Prochorow

3:00 PM / 4:00 PM / 5:00 PM / 6:00 PM, Z-Zentrum, Admission free, On-site reservation possible.

IN DER PELLE DIE ZEIT

Performative Installation by Emmi Esefeld

5:00 PM

Freie Kunstakademie Frankfurt

PRECEDE WITH INTENTION: ON THE ASSEMBLING OF THREE

Dance performance by Emanuele Co’, Yan Eliv Leiva, Emanuele Piras

7:00 PM, Frankfurt LAB

NDR BIGBAND MEETS ENSEMBLE MODERN

Conzert

8:30 PM, Frankfurt LAB

EMIGRANT SONGS

Performance by Nastya Dzyuban, Olen Mamai, Hanna Launikovich, Andrii Punko

from 9:30 PM, Frankfurt LAB, free admission

EVENING STANDARDS

Jazz concert with Dennis Sekretarev (trumpet), Nikita Bratus (piano), Don Hein (double bass), Eduard Davidko (drums)

SUNDAY, OCT 4, openKOMM!unikationsfabrik, free admission

11:00 AM – 6:00 PM

openKOMM!unikationsfabrik

On the Sunday of the festival, not only are all performances at Frankfurt LAB free of charge, but our neighboring institutions in the “Kommunikationsfabrik” also open their doors to visitors of all ages. Waiting for you are not only music, dance shows and performances, but also art workshops, escape room challenges and pixel games, an open ambulance, kickboxing and karaoke.

By & with: Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company, Fearless Gym, Frankfurt LAB, Freie Kunstakademie Frankfurt, Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt, ID_Frankfurt, Malteser Hilfsdienst, Club Mondaé, Pizzeria bei Nadine, RoomEscape Frankfurt, Singvogel Gesangskabinen, etc.

11:00 AM, Frankfurt LAB, free admission, reservation recommended

EPOCHE F INTERNATIONAL

Final concert of the IEMA masterclass for contemporary music with teaching artists from Ensemble Modern for prizewinners of German and European youth music competitions

12:00 PM – 2:00 PM, Frankfurt LAB, free admission

WEAVING

Collaborative Project by Nastya Dzyuban

12:00 PM – 4:00 PM, Frankfurt LAB, free admission

CHINA BOX

Installation by Yinfu Gao

1:00 PM: STORY BOX Workshop with Yinfu Gao

2 PM: A FEAST THAT NEVER SITS STILL with July Yang

3:00 PM: UNLUCKY COOKIE Workshop with Sichi Li

12:00 / 1:00 / 2:00 / 4:00 / 5:00 PM, Z-Zentrum, free admission, reservations possible on site.

IN DER PELLE DIE ZEIT

Performative Installation by Emmi Esefeld