Infos

Awareness & Care

Oropax are available free of charge at the bar and at the entrance.

In recent years, awareness of the existence of border crossings and discrimination has increased considerably. As organizers, we are prepared to take responsibility for what happens during our event. Our primary goal is to make every guest feel welcome and comfortable, regardless of their age, gender, origin or sexuality. To this end, we will cooperate in all areas as and with a specially trained awareness team, which will emphasize our shared values of cosmopolitanism, diversity and tolerance to ensure a common mindset among all. During the festival, they will be recognizable to all participants by purple high-visibility vests and a fanny pack wrapped in a string of lights. They will be present at the stages as well as at the bar.

Here you can find our awareness concept.

Any questions? Write us
awareness@cosy-festival.de

Camping

• Camping is included in the ticket price and is only possible in the designated areas in the Schlossgarten. Please follow the instructions of the staff members.
• Book an additional campervan ticket if you would like to arrive with your campervan.

• Pavilions are not welcome as they usually end up as garbage and there are plenty of opportunities to chill out and socialize on the grounds.
• Open fires are prohibited and will result in immediate exclusion from the event.
• The use of camping stoves is only permitted at the designated fire pit in front of the castle. Pay attention to and follow the instructions of the staff members!
• Use pocket ashtrays! These are available free of charge at the entrance and the bar. We will clean the entire area after the event. You are in the Elbe Biosphere Reserve, so please treat your environment with respect.
• Separate your waste properly! A waste separation concept will be implemented throughout the festival site (organic, plastic, paper/cardboard, glass, residual waste). Think about sensible waste consumption in advance!

Code of Conduct

The CoSy Festival is a place for EVERYONE!

We want to take a break from everyday life together, celebrate, and have a carefree time. The

Code of Conduct serves as a guideline for our actions and what we stand for — as a team,

community, and those responsible — so that everyone feels as safe as possible and can

express themselves freely and without constraint. It applies to ALL visitors, artists, and

participants of the festival.

Everyone is welcome.

We celebrate diversity and actively stand against all forms of discrimination, exclusion, and

violence — regardless of gender, origin, disability, age, sexual orientation, or other

characteristics.

Come as you are — we'll adapt.

We work to break down barriers and include as many people as possible. Accessible

routes and toilets are signposted. Quiet retreat spaces are open to anyone who needs

calm. If you need support — whether due to mobility, overwhelm, mental health, or other

needs — just reach out.

Respect every boundary.

Only yes means yes. A no is a no — always! Physical, verbal, and emotional boundary violations

have no place here and can result in exclusion from the festival.

Ask before you act.

Consent is a prerequisite, whether for touch, conversation, dancing, or taking photos.

Boundaries are individual, non-negotiable, and differ from person to person. So: always

obtain consent before approaching someone.

Ask for pronouns and use them correctly, wrong assumptions can cause harm.

We respect privacy.

No photos or videos are permitted on the dancefloor, and in general: people may only be

recorded with their explicit consent. Do not share recordings in which people are recognizable

without their permission.

If you're unsure: better skip the photo.

Be mindful — of yourself.

Know your limits. Take breaks. Take responsibility for your consumption and your decisions.

Look after yourself and get help if you need it — from the Awareness Team, the medics (Sanis),

or PsyCare.

What to do in an emergency:

• Go to the Awareness Team (purple vests)

• Speak to medics or security

• Go to the Support Point (ground floor)

• Spiked drink? — Come to us immediately, no explanation needed

You decide what happens next. We only act if you want us to — unless there is immediate

danger to you or others.

We share responsibility.

Pay attention when someone isn't doing well. Ask, get help, act in solidarity. You don't have to

resolve situations alone, we'll support you.

A mindful festival isn't created by rules alone, but by you.

• Look out for each other.

• Ask questions.

• Support those affected.

• Stand in solidarity.

Together we create a space where everyone can feel free and as safe as possible.

Be mindful — of the space.

This festival belongs to all of us. Pick up your trash, tidy up after yourself, and treat this place the

way you'd want others to leave it for you.

We are in a nature reserve, protecting and preserving it is important to us. Let's treat this

place with respect, together.

Discrimination is not an individual issue — it is structural.

We understand it as part of societal power structures that also shape our festival. That's why we

never stop engaging with it: as a team and as a community. We see this engagement as an

ongoing process: continually questioning ourselves, learning, and actively working toward

change.

Our Awareness Team is here for you — on the side of those affected.

We listen without judgment. The needs of the affected person are always at the center. Their

perception is never questioned. Reach out to us in the Awareness Room, to the people in purple

vests, or afterwards via email at awareness@cosy-festival.de.

All other staff can direct you to the Awareness Team.

We offer:

• Confidential conversations

• Emotional support

• Accompaniment to the Safer Space

• Protection from persons who have overstepped boundaries

• Referral to medics, PsyCare, or security

• Anonymous reporting of incidents, if desired

You'll find us in the Awareness Room or recognize us by our purple vests & fairy lights. You

can approach us at any time — even if you're unsure whether something is "serious

enough." It is enough that you feel uncomfortable.

We work as a team

with medics, PsyCare & security. If needed, we'll arrange support or refer you on — as safely,

respectfully, and anonymously as possible.

Consequences

Violations of our Code of Conduct will have consequences — equally for everyone, regardless of

who the person is. We reserve the right to remove individuals from the festival for violations of

our Code of Conduct.

We want to create a safer space for respectful coexistence — a place where everyone can feel

free and as safe as possible. This can only work together.


You can download our code of conduct here!

Bicycle

Dornburg Castle is located along the Elbe Cycle Route and invites you to visit it on an idyllic bike tour. Signposts along the route are easy to spot.

Don’t want to ride alone? Then sign up for our “Bouncy Bike Tour”, accompanied by a DJ with soundsystem.

The tour lasts about 1.5 hours.

Meeting point: Magdeburg Central Station, Willy-Brandt-Platz

You can load your luggage into our van. No carrying – just pedaling!

Tour-Route

More infos soon!

History of the Castle

For the Contrasts in Symbiosis Festival, it is crucial not to ignore the historical significance of the location. We are operating in a building that served as a “wild concentration camp” in the 1930s—a place of early Nazi violence that is hardly present in German remembrance culture. Our event cannot relativize this history, nor should it cover it up. Rather, we accept the tension between past and present and deliberately keep it open. Confronting history is part of our responsibility – as is the attempt to give the place a new, living meaning today without relativizing or forgetting its past.

The fact that the Contrast in Symbiosis Festival is taking place here means that we are exposing ourselves to history instead of avoiding it. We also use the public attention generated by a festival to draw attention to a place that would otherwise remain largely hidden, like many other early SA detention centers in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. The aim is not to “heal” the place through culture, but to keep its past visible and not to allow the space to fall back into silence and decay.

We therefore work together with institutions that have been providing professional reappraisal for years, including the Lichtenburg/Prettin concentration camp memorial, the Saxony-Anhalt Memorials Foundation, and the Dornburg Local History and Stengel Association. These connections help us to correctly classify historical references and not reduce responsibility to symbolic gestures. To this end, we work with Sekko Soziale, among others, which supports initiatives to help right-wing extremists leave the movement under the motto “Encourage instead of exclude.” CoSy does not see itself as a project of remembrance politics, but as a festival that is aware of its situation and draws conclusions from it: we name history, we do not conceal it, and we help to ensure that a place of former violence does not fall into oblivion again. For this reason, we will be showing the traveling exhibition “The Beginning of Terror: Early Concentration Camps in National Socialism” at the festival, which has been made available to us by the Lichtenburg/Prettin Memorial.

Websites:

Lichtenburg/Prettin Concentration Camp Memorial

Saxony-Anhalt Memorials Foundation

Dornburg Local History and Stengel Association

Sponsoring & Donation

CoSy Festival is just one of many events and projects initiated by the non-profit organisation Love Foundation.

The global opperating Love Foundation, all supporting collectives and the small but excellent CoSy core team (works the whole year round) work entirely on a voluntary basis – free of charge.

With monetary and material donations, you help us continue creating spaces for culture, exchange, and connection, and support the sustainable and loving development of CoSy Festival and our other projects. ❤️

All donations are reinvested directly into future editions and initiatives to make them even better and smoother. They also help us cover unforeseen costs – such as the theft of two CDJs (yes, really sh*tty … 😓).

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support and solidarity! 👏 ❤️

To Love Foundation e.V.

In addition, one of the long-term goals of our festival is to generate donations for our drinking water projects in Africa.
The non profit organisation Love Foundation has been committed to this for over 10 years and works closely with Viva Con Agua Sankt Pauli e.V..

You can find more information here
→ https://love-foundation.org/projects
→ https://www.betterplace.org/de/projects/163258

👉 Monetary donations can be made by bank transfer to our Love Foundation bank account

DE16 4306 0967 1100 7769 00
BIC: GENODEM1GLS
Purpose: “private donation”

👉 PayPal Love Foundation

👉 via Love Foundation Website: → https://love-foundation.org/support

👉 If you have any questions about donations and sponsorship, please feel free to contact vorstand-de@love-foundation.org directly.

To CoSy Festival

👉 Monetary donations can be made by bank transfer to our CoSy bank account

IBAN: DE86 4306 0967 1100 7769 01
BIC: GENODEM1GLS
Purpose: “private donation”

👉 PayPal CoSy Festival

👉 For donations in kind, please fill out the following form → Form for donation in kind

👉 If you have any questions about donations and sponsorship, please feel free to contact sponsoring@cosy-festival.de directly


Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to everyone who wants to support us & our mission ❤️

Water

"Water for all" is one of the pillars of the Love Foundation and therefore an absolute human right for us. That's why tap water is always available to everyone at two designated stations and at the bar.

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