Open Flair Festival

Open Flair began in 1985 as a one-time gathering conceived to counter young people leaving rural Eschwege, and has run every year since 1986 on the Werdchen, a small island in the river Werra, organised entirely by the volunteer-run Arbeitskreis Open Flair association. Held on the second weekend of August since 2005 and capped at around 20,000 visitors, it has stayed deliberately smaller than Germany's largest commercial festivals, reflecting its non-profit, volunteer organisational roots.

A young local student, frustrated by the number of young people leaving the rural border region around Eschwege for larger cities, started Open Flair in 1985 as a one-time gathering held at Burg Ludwigstein between 6 and 8 September, an event that began modestly with a circus tent, a handful of small art performances and a few acoustic guitars.