Infos
Directions
Around 75% of CO2 emissions at festivals are caused by car travel. The entire CoSy Festival team deeply cares about ecological sustainability and environmental protection. That’s why we’d be absolutely thrilled if you chose not to travel by car and instead took advantage of one of our alternative options. We’ll be organizing several group bike tours from Magdeburg! More info on that coming soon.
A small step from each of us already solves most of the problem.
If you still decide to come by car, you’ll need to purchase an additional parking ticket.
Public transport
The festival site can be easily reached by train with exit at "Prödel" train station. (approx. 2 hours from Berlin main station, 25 minutes from Magdeburg main station, 1:15 hours from Leipzig main station, 3:13 hours from Hildesheim main station). Afterwards, a 20-minute walk (1.5 km) takes you to Dornburg Castle.
Ride Sharing
Share costs and good vibes, reduce your ecological footprint and meet new people. Just join our Telegram group or organize yourself so that you can arrive with well-filled cars 🌈
--> Telegram Ride Sharing Group
Sundaytickets
If you have a Sunday ticket, you can enter the grounds from 10:00 am.
Shuttle-Ticket
If you’re arriving by train and would like to be picked up by our shuttle in Prödel, please bring some cash for the transfer.
Shuttle times: (as of 2025)
Thursday: 3:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Friday - Sunday: 8:30 AM – 10:00 PM
Monday: 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM
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
Time:
- Thursday: -
- Friday: -
You can load your luggage into our van. No carrying – just pedaling!
Click this link to join the Telegram group.
Recommendation
We recommend traveling by bike not only because of the positive environmental impact: The district of Jerichower Land offers a true variety of beautifully situated lakes that invite you to swim, refresh and relax. A short trip here during the festival calms the mind and invigorates the senses - our absolute insider tip!!!
Address
Schloss Dornburg an der Elbe
Lindenweg 2
39264 Gommern
Germany
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!
Inclusion & Terrain
One of our most important values is to enable the participation of all people. On the one hand, we try not to exclude financially disadvantaged people by offering affordable and individualized tickets; on the other hand, we also want to include people with special needs through various measures and thus put a smile on everyone's face.
We have therefore taken the following measures to act as inclusively as possible:
- Persons with a disabled person's pass may of course bring a carer free of charge. Please bring your proof of disability with you to admission.
- The driveway is paved.
- The castle park and the access road to the grounds are flat and contain only slight inclines. The stairs of Dornburg Castle are an exception. Here, two ramps with a slight incline will pave the way into the castle.
- In the castle itself, festival exhibitions and stages can be found in the cellar, on the first floor and on the second floor. There will also be a stage in the outdoor area. This stage and the stage on the first floor are accessible at ground level.
- The remaining areas of the site consist of flat mown grass.
- Access to a barrier-free toilet is available throughout.
- There are several staff members on the festival site, as well as the awareness team, who are always ready to help you.
- If you have any further questions, please contact us at the following e-mail address: inklusion@cosy-festival.de.
For us, inclusion does not just mean the inclusion of people with disabilities. For us, inclusion also means that there is no elbowing society. Everyone is equal! Elbows down! We celebrate togetherness. Everyone here is helpful, peaceful and, above all, tolerant. This means that it doesn't matter what nationality, faith or social background you belong to and it also doesn't matter what sexual orientation or gender you feel you belong to. We want to create a parallel world in which we can all come together happily and contentedly. Escape everyday life for a weekend and spread this spirit out into the world after the festival. The motto is: be and let be. Self-respect and respectful interaction with others is essential.
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 is our awareness concept.
Any questions? Write us
awareness@cosy-festival.de
Lost & Found
All lost and found items will be stored in Magdeburg for a maximum of one year. If they are not picked up by then, you might find them next year at the screen printing booth ;)
Please write to us at the following email address stating what you have lost and whether you can pick it up or if it would need to be shipped:
--> lostandfound@cosy-festival.de
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 or here 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”
👉 Or you can directly donate to Love Foundation e.V. here 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”
👉 For donations in kind, please fill out the following form --> Form for donation in kind
👉 The easiest way to donate (after the festival) is to simply leave a (partial) amount on your CoSy wristband
👉 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 ❤️
Cashless
Our festival works without cash. At all catering stands it is only possible to pay by chip. You can top up your credit online in advance or on site at the top-up station. The repayment of the credit, as well as the payment of the supporter and the repayment of the garbage deposit are realized exclusively via the chip. You can then decide for yourself whether you want to use the credit at the food stands, donate it to a sustainable cause or have it paid out to your account.
Your credit can be booked back via the following link from our cashless provider Purple X. If you wish, you can also leave us a part of the repayment as a donation. Please give us some time until we can make all transfers. Thank you for your patience! ❤️
--> https://my.purplex.com/refund/cosy-2025
Hygiene
20% more unisex seated toilets and 90% more urinals are planned than required. In addition, two washbasins with running water and disinfectant dispensers are available at each of the 4 toilet stations.
Shower containers are located in close proximity to the castle.
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.
Sustainability
Out of love for nature and a future worth living, we are implementing the following measures:
- Travel by bike, bus, public transport if possible
- Avoidance of fossil fuels in electricity generation.
- Waste separation on the entire festival area, maximum 25 meters distance to the next waste separator.
- Return of €5 when a correctly separated bin liner is handed in
- Eco-toilets instead of chemical-dixies
Exclusively vegetarian food and drinks, continuous reusable deposit system for cups, bowls and crockery Involvement of local suppliers wherever possible
Code of Conduct
The CoSy Festival has officially signed the Code of Conduct for a sustainable and climate-friendly festival operation.
The outdoor version of the Code of Conduct "Celebrate the Future!" was developed by the Clubtopia initiative together with event organizers from the festival and open-air scene. With the sustainability code, organizers commit to specific goals for climate and environmental protection, such as conserving resources and nature, saving water, and addressing social aspects. The goals of the Code of Conduct are binding, but this does not mean they must be fully achieved from the start; rather, festivals and open-airs are expected to make progress toward them. To reach these goals, signatories can select from a detailed pool of measures the suggestions that best fit their event and location. The Code of Conduct for sustainable festival culture is an extension of the Code of Conduct for sustainable club culture "Celebrate the Future!" from Clubtopia, a project by clubliebe e.V. and BUND Berlin. The sustainability code was developed within the framework of the round tables for a green club culture and published in September 2021.
More information: www.zukunft-feiern.de and www.clubtopia.de
About Clubtopia
Clubtopia is a collaboration project of the Bund für Umwelt- und Naturschutz Berlin e.V. and clubliebe e.V., dedicated to climate and environmental protection within the club and festival scene. The project is supported by Clubcommission Berlin and Livekomm and is funded by the Senate Department for Mobility, Transport, Climate Protection, and the Environment.
Art exhibition
From July 17 to 19, 2025, Dornburg Castle will once again open its doors for our art exhibition—free of charge and open to everyone. Away from the festival, we invite you to discover a wide variety of works and enjoy the day with DJ sets, live music, and theater performances. Come by and be inspired!
Daily from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. (as of 2025)
Entry
Persons under the age of 18 are not permitted to enter.
Dogs are not permitted.
A valid identity card must be shown at the entrance.
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