On September 13, the Future Festival took place at the Zuse-Computer-Museum (ZCOM ) Hoyerswerda as part of the project “Youth Vision Action” / "Jugend bewegt Region - Region bewegt Jugend" (JuBReg). The festival was also part of the Hoyerswerda City and Harvest Festival, attracting numerous visitors.

The Future Festival marked the festive conclusion of three Future Camps and Future Productions, which had generated numerous creative ideas, projects and artistic works over the past few months. The results were exhibited at the Konrad Zuse Museum, making them accessible to a wide audience.

Visitors were treated to a varied program spread across several venues. Performances, concerts, exhibitions, films and plays offered a lively insight into the participants' work and brought the thematic diversity of the project to life.

A particular highlight was the “Wall of Change,” which invited creative participation. Here, visitors could design their own feathers and hang them on the wall, accompanied by the question “What do you wish for the future?” Over the course of the day, a colorful, inspiring wall full of wishes, ideas and visions emerged—many of them related to structural change and the future of the region.

The festival also made its mark musically. Various concerts from the Future Camps provided a lively soundtrack for the day. The sound installation “Wenn Töne Räume fordern” (When Sounds Demand Space), developed by students at the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, was particularly noteworthy. The work combined sound and space to create an immersive experience and impressively conveyed the voices of young people from the region with their concerns and wishes.

In the field of film, the series „Filme – Perspektiven junger Menschen“ (Films – Perspectives of Young People), was particularly impressive, in which young people from Germany, Poland and Czechia told personal stories on topics such as origin, identity and participation. These were complemented by the stop-motion films „Visionen in Bewegung“ (Visions in Motion), which were created during the action art workshops. With creativity and craftsmanship, the participants transformed their ideas for the future into short, impressive animated films.

In addition to the artistic contributions, the festival also provided space for discussion and exchange. In the tri-national panel “Stimme zeigen - Zukunft gestalten” (Show your voice – shape the future) young people discussed co-determination and participation with representatives from politics and practice. Topics included: Why is the voice of young people important? Do they feel heard? And what do they want for their region? The reports from Polish and Czech participants on examples of good practice were particularly exciting. Simultaneous interpretation enabled a very exciting and inspiring exchange across language barriers. The panel discussion made it clear how ideas and visions can be turned into concrete courses of action – in line with the festival motto “From Vision to Action.”

Among those who helped organize the festival day were students from the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences studying social work and culture and management, who had worked on the projects together with young people from Poland, Germany and Czechia.

The Future Festival was thus much more than just a cultural event: it was a living symbol of cooperation, creativity and change. Art, music, film and discussion merged into an inspiring overall experience that showed how important it is to open up spaces for young people to express themselves, meet others and get involved. It was a day on which the future was not only imagined, but actively shaped—together, across borders.