2026 Summer Festival Theme
With feeling, not just showing up – reclaiming empathy.
With the theme for the 2026 Tollwood Summer Festival, we set out to reclaim empathy – with activities and performances from June 19 to July 19 at Olympiapark Süd
Heart stickers, hugs, and kissy faces flood our daily lives as digital expressions of our feelings. But beyond all the emojis, what capacity to feel does our society truly retain? Tollwood has made precisely this the theme of the 2026 Summer Festival: “With feeling, not just showing up – reclaiming empathy.” Not as a watered-down, cheesy theme, but as the glue that holds a healthy society together: empathy as the foundation of human action, from the kitchen table to global politics. The theme weaves its way through the Tollwood Summer Festival from June 19 to July 19 in the Olympiapark Süd with impressive installations and surprising events.
At the heart of the festival: a larger-than-life anatomical heart that opens up deep emotional spaces within its two chambers and offers diverse opportunities to get involved in projects close to the heart.
Empathy for Greater Unity
“In times of social and political challenges, we need unity based on genuine empathy,” explains Bastian Kabuth, Head of Culture at Tollwood, setting the context. “By returning to this fundamental human ability, we deprive cynicism, apathy, and emotional withdrawal—which authoritarian and populist forces seek to exploit—of their breeding ground. Instead of shutting ourselves off and numbing our feelings in the face of all these crises, we should harness that positive energy to set out together toward a hopeful future.”
Space for Emotions
Tollwood opens up diverse emotional spaces for its audience in surprising and unusual ways. Through shared experiences, moments of relaxation and stillness—such as in the oasis of calm during group meditation and laughter yoga. During group singing, while marveling at a stroll through the festival grounds, or while savoring delicacies from around the world in the outdoor dining areas. And in moments of curiosity and emotion, when the world comes together at Tollwood—with acrobats and musicians in the amphitheater, the Andechser Tent, and on the smaller festival stages.
At the Music Arena, a wide range of emotions come together under one tent: joy, happiness, euphoria, and energy mingle here with longing and melancholy. The lineup of 32 concerts ensures just that. From the supergroup BEAT, which masterfully brings King Crimson’s music to the stage, to Bosse with his thoughtful, often melancholic lyrics, to the feel-good pop of Rick Astley and the primal power of Irish folk at Folkwood Night with Versengold and other guests. Over three evenings of top-tier double concerts, the energy of Joss Stone and Emeli Sandé, the powerful soul of Anastacia and Marla Glen, and the unmistakable powerhouse voices of LP and Asaf Avidan will deliver intense and emotional concert experiences.
The Tollwood Festival combines culture, sustainability, and social issues into a unique experience in Munich. The program is set within the Market of Ideas, featuring international arts and crafts and organic cuisine from around the world—open, diverse, and with free admission—except for the concerts in the Music Arena.
