Ibug Street Art Festival Opens 20th Anniversary Edition at Riesa Feed Mill
More than 70 artists have transformed the decommissioned Muskator feed factory in Riesa into a temporary exhibition for the 20th edition of the Ibug festival, running through 6 September.
Exhibition opening in Riesa
The urban art festival Ibug opened its doors to visitors on 22 August inside the former Muskator-Werke in the Saxon town of Riesa. The exhibition runs across three weekends, concluding on 6 September. Guests can tour the extensive industrial brownfield situated directly along the banks of the Elbe river, walking through cavernous industrial halls and exploring forgotten corners of the site. The complex operated for decades as an animal feed processing plant until operations permanently ceased in 2013. The current event represents the second time the festival has chosen this specific industrial facility, returning to the location after its initial residency in 2024.
Display formats and international artists
The 2026 edition features original works produced by more than 70 artists from across Germany and abroad. The temporary displays cover a wide selection of visual formats, including colourful murals and large-scale wall motifs created on the factory surfaces. Artists also constructed spatial installations that occupy entire industrial rooms, combining structural elements of the plant with modern urban art concepts. Alongside physical paintings and sculptures, the exhibition features coordinated light shows designed to illuminate the darkened spaces of the factory complex.
Cultural program and interactive workshops
In addition to self-guided exploration, the festival provides organized guided tours that lead visitors through the industrial halls and explain the various artworks. The event program also encourages active audience participation through several practical workshops. Guests can create their own prints in a dedicated screen printing workshop or learn painting techniques during an on-site graffiti workshop. For children, the venue includes a dedicated doodling table where young visitors can draw freely. The supporting cultural schedule includes multiple live concerts by local musical acts, as well as an official panel discussion addressing options for the future development and reuse of the Muskator grounds.
- Graffiti artist Tasso initiates the first Ibug festival in Meerane.
- The Muskator animal feed factory in Riesa halts industrial production.
- Ibug holds an exhibition at the Muskator-Werke site in Riesa for the first time.
- The festival draws 35,000 visitors to a former hospital in Chemnitz during the European Capital of Culture year.
- The 20th anniversary edition opens at the Muskator complex in Riesa, running through 6 September.
Twenty years of industrial redesign
This year's event coincides with the 20-year anniversary of Ibug, an abbreviation for Industriebrachenumgestaltung, which transforms disused industrial brownfields into temporary urban art galleries. The festival was founded through an initiative launched by graffiti artist Tasso, holding its inaugural edition in 2006 in Meerane, a town in the Zwickau district. Over two decades, the mobile festival has moved across changing sites throughout Saxony, converting empty buildings into public cultural spaces. In 2025, the project was hosted inside a former hospital in Chemnitz as part of the European Capital of Culture programme, where organizers registered a record total of 35,000 visitors before bringing the exhibition back to Riesa for 2026.
