Latest Events in Munich(July Updated)

In summer, the Tolwood Music Festival invites visitors to the Olympic Park to enjoy music, experience culture, or stroll through the colorful "Creative Market." At the festival grounds, visitors can enjoy a variety of theatrical and performing groups, and listen to live music from around the world in tents. Concerts also accompany the Tolwood Festival. At the music arena, the Tolwood Festival presents rising stars and legends from the German and international music scene. There's much to explore—from markets selling handicrafts and international cuisine to many other venues for visitors to participate in. Over 90% of the performances are free, covering a wide range of genres including music, theater, environmental activities, and children's entertainment.

Munich's most beautiful open-air cinema experience returns to Königsplatz! From July 9th to 19th, 2026, Königsplatz in Munich will once again transform into a top-notch open-air cinema. Featuring premieres, family films, themed nights, and international cuisine, the Kinoliebe Summer Film Festival brings not only movies but also a whole new lifestyle. During the day, from 12 pm to 8 pm on screening days, Happy Families can enter for free without tickets or registration. In the evening, open-air films will be shown on a 16-meter main screen using RGB laser and HDR technology; the LED stage will host a variety of events including lectures, live podcasts, family programs, comedy shows, and small live performances.

After four decades of museum and exhibition operations, the Neue Pinakothek is undergoing fundamental refurbishment. The museum is therefore closed for several years. During this time, selected major works of 19th century painting and sculpture are exhibited in the Alte Pinakothek and in the Sammlung Schack. The selection ranges from classicism and Romanticism to the beginning of modernism. Under the title ‘From Turner to van Gogh', the 19th century is now being relaunched in a different form. The works of the Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich, the French Impressionists and the pioneers of modernism from Édouard Manet and Claude Monet to Paul Cézanne and Vincent van Gogh will continue to be on display. Newly exhibited are groups of works by the important Realists Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller and Adolph Menzel, which could not be shown in previous years. One cabinet brings together intimate interior depictions from the Symbolist and fin de siècle eras.

From fall 2025, “Long Story Short” will tell a story of contemporary art from the 1960s to the present from the holdings of the Brandhorst Collection.Each room will be an exhibition in its own right: from Arte Povera to monographic presentations, from formal-aesthetic discourses to socio-political themes. Works that have never been shown before and new acquisitions will enter into a dialog with the museum's icons and open up new perspectives on the collection, which now comprises over 1600 works.

The 2026 Munich Japanese Festival will be held in Munich's English Garden, marking its 29th edition. Anyone looking to experience Japanese culture and crafts will find it ideal. The festival is located in the English Garden, adjacent to the Japanese tea house Kanshoan and the Haus der Kunst (House of Arts). This year also features a cosplay competition with generous prizes. Cosplay originated in Japan as a fan culture activity and spread to the United States and Europe with the rise of comics and anime in the 1990s. In cosplay, participants try to portray characters from comics, anime, movies, video games, or other media as faithfully as possible through costumes and actions.

From July 25th to August 2nd, the Auer Dult market in the Old Town is open, with over two hundred stalls filled with ceramics, antiques, and handicrafts. On September 19th, the world-famous Munich Oktoberfest opens, and seats in the tents are extremely difficult to find. However, standing in the open-air beer garden and clinking glasses with strangers can still create a festive atmosphere.

This exhibition explores the close link between human health and the health of the planet, and what happens when this delicate balance is disrupted. What is the health status of our planet? What does this mean for us? Heat waves, droughts, and extreme weather events all demonstrate this: the Earth's ecological balance has been disrupted. And this has a direct impact on our health. The special exhibition, "Planetary Health – One Planet, One Health, Our Future," visually demonstrates the close link between human well-being and environmental conditions, and how we can positively shape this relationship. The health of the planet means that the health of the planet is inextricably linked to the health of humanity. If the natural environment deteriorates, our human condition will worsen. However, if we recognize the problems, we can find solutions. Many ideas and projects can help us better live in harmony with our planet. The exhibition is divided into five sections: Air, Biosphere (animals and plants), Water, Matter, and Landscape. Each section reveals how human activities impact the environment and how environmental change, in turn, affects us. To make the complex interrelationships easier to understand, the exhibition deliberately uses familiar objects. Whether it's a pizza box, a frying pan, a ski, or a toy—these everyday items become starting points for exploring deeper ecological and health issues. This provides us with a new perspective on habits and consumption, and the role we play. The exhibition not only presents the problems, but more importantly, it presents different perspectives. Within each thematic area, concrete ideas, projects, and innovations are presented, illustrating how humanity and the planet can coexist more sustainably and harmoniously. From technological solutions to local initiatives, it's clear that change is possible—and change often begins small. The exhibition aims to create space for us to understand our connections with one another and explore the current state of our shared living spaces. It showcases new approaches to finding solutions and prompts us to ask ourselves: What kind of life do we want for the future?