Kick-off for new "Elblandia" festival

The former "Sandstone and Music" festival in the Upper Elbe Valley is experiencing a new edition under a different name. The interdisciplinary music festival "Elblandia" will premiere next Friday in the Ballsäle Coßmannsdorf in Freital - with a recital by Christoph Prégardien (tenor) and his piano partner Eric Schneider, the organizers announced.

The following day, a quintet made up of members of the Elbland Philharmonie Sachsen and the Staatskapelle Dresden will perform Franz Schubert's "Trout Quintet" at the same venue. However, the actual opening concert will take place on Saturday at the Coswig Stock Exchange - with the Saxony State Youth Orchestra under the direction of Tobias Engeli. Cellist Jan Vogler will perform in the village church in Lohmen on Sunday, playing three of Bach's cello suites.

Further festival phases in May, September, October and December

Further festival phases will follow in May, September, October and December. There will be three to four events at weekends. The venues will include the Grosssedlitz Baroque Garden, Weesenstein Castle, the churches of Dohna, Lauenstein and Pirna and the Meissen Theater. In addition, the aim is to attract audiences to previously lesser-known locations, including the Heymannbaude Kleinhennersdorf and the WohnKulturGut Gostewitz.

The concentration on weekends has a purpose. The aim is to encourage people from out of town to come to the region for a weekend and attend several events. "Elblandia" used to operate under the title "Sandstein & Musik". As the association of the same name withdrew as a shareholder at the end of 2024 and no longer provided the festival name, a new name had to be found.

"Elblandia" planned as an interdisciplinary festival

The artificial word "Elblandia" was inspired by an orchestral work by Jean Sibelius: "Finlandia". However, "Elblandia" does not want to be a pure classical music festival and also offer jazz, theater, dance, readings and film. "Diversity is the program, we don't draw age limits," explained the organizer, FestivalKultur Sächsische Schweiz FEKUSS gGmbH. It also organizes the International Shostakovich Days in Gohrisch at the end of June.