This was the Festival of Regions 2025 “Realistic Dreams”
“Completely different from usual.” That was how one Braunau resident summed up the Festival of Regions 2025, which came to a successful close on Sunday, June 22, 2025.
For 33 years, the Upper Austrian Festival of Regions has seen itself as a “collaborative project” bringing together the artistic avant-garde and the social issues and challenges facing the Upper Austrian periphery.
Not a series of events, but an invitation to the festival region to engage in critical dialogue and to dream – with both feet firmly planted in reality. A multifaceted, sometimes contradictory, but always lively debate about the present and future of rural areas.
The Festival of Regions 2025, with free admission to all events and activities, will once again attract around 20,000 visitors and festival participants, offering opportunities for personal encounters, networking, and interaction.
- 10 days of “fröhlicher Wahnsinn” (“happy madness”) from June 13 to 22, 2025
- Over 40 different venues in Braunau, Ranshofen, Simbach (Germany), Ried, Schärding, Ostermiething, Mining, Obernberg, Altheim, Reichersberg, Suben, Antieshofen
- 34 artistic projects
- More than 200 participating artists: visual artists, musicians, performers, slammers, media artists, authors, dancers …
- 144 events
- Educational program for young and old with 37 workshops and 20 guided tours
A performative takeover of public space.
With temporary objects and sculptures made from scrap wood and bulky waste that shaped the urban landscape. From school classes in neon yellow safety vests on scavenger hunts in the morning to the “Menscha*” of the “Zeche Hinterfotzing” dressed in white and black and singing satirical poems and rhymes: patriarchal customs written in a “queer” way.
“Realistic Dreams” has made a noticeable and visible impact, sparking discussions.
Unusual venues and formats
Mobile dance floors, train stations, parks, trains, city squares, riverbanks, road bridges, pubs, vacant commercial premises, churches, local galleries, and small exhibition venues—the festival focused on spaces that are often overlooked in everyday life.
Diversity of artistic formats and forms of expression
Participatory performances, dance floor pop-ups, listening sessions, banquets, radio projects, workshops, exhibitions, celebrations, happenings, hikes—open and easily accessible.
A festival of “cooperation” and a “festival of encounters”
A festival that not only encouraged critical engagement with difficult topics, but also encouraged participation, co-creation, dancing, and celebration. Realistic Dreams was a festival that relied heavily on cooperation with local initiatives. Many projects were developed together with local communities.
The “Festival of Encounter,” jointly organized this year with ZIMT (Center for Interculturality, Coexistence, and Participation), became a city festival with around 1,500 visitors.
The fact that projects were able to take place in other locations in the Innviertel region (including Ried, Schärding, Altheim, and Obernberg) in addition to Braunau is thanks to the Lebensraum Innviertel initiative (KUKI project): A particular highlight of the supporting program for the 2025 festival was the first Innviertel “Pride” event, which was organized as part of this cooperation on June 7 in the run-up to the festival in Ried.
See Braunau through different eyes
The festival edition “Realistic Dreams” found its main venue in Braunau, a city that is often reduced in the media to its troubled heritage. Instead of concealing history, the festival confronted historical ambivalence. Many projects addressed the politics of memory, collective memory, and future identities—subtly or aggressively, but never moralizing.
One key project was “Marble Slab & Disc with Duck,” which explored new forms of remembrance and reflected on them artistically in collaboration with the House of Austrian History.
The goal of seeing Braunau through different eyes was achieved. Braunau was not reinvented—but it was retold. The claim that participatory art actually makes a difference was proven true in many places.
What remains of this festival are once again “little cultural seedlings” that continue to grow in the region. The ball is now in the region’s court.
What will remain of the Festival of Regions 2027?
A selection.
The Festival of Regions 2025 has had a lasting impact on the region beyond the duration of the festival. Many projects have become permanent fixtures, networks have grown, and artistic and social processes continue to have an effect.
The festival has left its mark—artistically, socially, and in terms of cultural memory.
Lasting works have been created, vibrant communities have grown, traditions have been reimagined, and networks have been established that will continue to shape the region for a long time to come.
A permanent venue for the Bauhoftheater?
Through its cultural and political commitment, the Bauhoftheater has taken a decisive step toward creating a long-term space for indoor performances. This project will be pursued as part of the region’s infrastructure development.
The reading of the will in book form
Lydia Haider’s text on the performance “Testamentsverlautbarung” (Proclamation of the Will) has just been published in the volume “Neue Rundschau 2025/3” by the renowned German publishing house S. Fischer Verlag.
https://www.fischerverlage.de/buch/neue-rundschau-2025-3-9783108091422
New spaces for new dreams (kunst:dünger)
The regional group continues to work toward realizing its collective dreams. One particularly visible dream has already become reality: the establishment of a queer community in the region, which is now preparing for the next Pride event.
INN/4PRIDE continues – Queer community stands up
The festival has given rise to a queer community that is establishing structures, raising its profile, and planning to host another Pride event in the region—an important step for diversity and social participation.
Keep fighting and drinking with the “Zeche Hinterfotzing”
“Menschazech” is still active, performs regularly, and is currently working with Hansi Falkner from Attwenger on Gstanzl recordings. Their lyrics have been added to the Austrian Folk Song Archive. In doing so, they have critically rethought and transformed regional traditions.
A “Fingerhut voll Utopien” as inspiration for “Goldhauben”
The project “Ein Fingerhut voll Utopien” (A Thimbleful of Utopias) at Kunstraum Valentin had a particularly strong impact on a group of women from Goldfrauen, who emerged from the festival feeling empowered.
Annual peace hike with Paul Zauner
The Peace Walk is to be continued as a recurring event, thus remaining a catalyst for dialogue and social debate in the region.
Keep moving in the dance village by Simon Mayer and Hannah Shakti Bühler
The “dance virus” has created a lasting impact: the ZIMT cultural center now hosts regular dance events. In addition, Simon and Hannah have settled in the region and are now more strongly connected there – an important step for a vibrant local dance scene. As part of the project, a documentary film was made featuring interviews with many people from the region. https://www.dorftv.at/video/46693
A new landmark for the city of Braunau?
The textile artwork created during the festival by Braunau-based seamstress Lydia Waldhör will be presented to the city as a “new landmark” and is expected to be displayed permanently at the state music school in Ranshofen as a visible symbol of regional history and stories.
“The Treffik” – Linzer Straße stays car-free?
With the festival center, Linzerstraße became a car-free and lively cultural meeting place for 10 days. A strong sign of how spaces in the city can also be used differently.
The furniture built by the students has been distributed throughout the region and some of it is still in use—a practical and visible legacy of the artistic collaboration with the University of Art and Design Linz.
Redesign at Stahlpark Riedersbach – Art is meant to be seen
Thanks to the initiative and involvement of the festival, the steel sculptures exhibited on the extensive power plant grounds in Ostermiething have been permanently anchored there. The newly assembled exhibition, featuring numerous objects in the landscape, was ceremoniously opened during the festival as part of “kUNSt geHÖRT geSEHEN” (art belongs to be seen) and will now remain as publicly accessible works of art.
“Bankett am Bankett” – 10 years of Summer of Migration in book form
As part of “Bankett am Bankett,” a collection of stories entitled “Der lange Winter der Migration” (The Long Winter of Migration) has been published by Korrektur Verlag (Mattighofen) – an anthology in three languages (Arabic, Farsi, German).
With stories and essays by five writers who came to the German-speaking literary world in 2015 from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iran. A lasting archive of collective memory. https://korrekturverlag.com/titel/der-lange-winter-der-migration/
Text and music workshop by “Yasmo und der Klangkantine”
Yasmo and the Klangkantine are among the hottest musical acts in Austria right now. New songs and lyrics have emerged from the songwriting workshop at the Ranshofen Music School, which have since become part of live performances and thus have an impact beyond the festival.
Project “Verflechtn” – Cultural networks grow across borders
Verflechtn has given rise to new networks between artists, initiatives, and associations that will continue to exist after the festival. Building on the experiences of Verflechtn, a larger exchange project is being developed for the next edition of the festival in 2027.
A prime example of participatory art with Lebenshilfe Braunau
The collaboration between the Bussi Group and Lebenshilfe Braunau in public spaces continues to inspire the institution to this day and motivates it to develop new participatory formats.
DORFTV & Radio FRI as a festival archive
Programs and reports on DORFTV and Radio FRI are still available, allowing festival projects to be viewed and listened to on demand. This ensures that the content remains visible and accessible even after the festival has ended. Radio FRI has been strengthened in the long term by the festival. The program can be received on Braunau cable.
Herzogsburg District Museum & House of Austrian History
As part of the project “Marble Slab & Disc with Duck,” objects from the House of Austrian History were displayed. An important connection was established between the House of History and the Braunau Historical Museum.
OÖN cultural roundtable discussion about what remains (and what was missing)
A cultural roundtable discussion on November 25 at 7:00 p.m. at GUGG will provide an opportunity to take stock in a positive and critical manner, reflect on the festival’s ideas, and develop new initiatives.