back to the project overview

Bucht der Träumer* 2025 at Helenesee

Festival Awareness: Holistic and year round approach

Long-term awareness support for a community-oriented cultural festival at Helenesee

From 14–18 August 2025, the Bucht der Träumer* festival took place at Helenesee near Frankfurt (Oder). This multi-day cultural and music festival has brought people together for many years to celebrate, reflect, learn, and explore new forms of solidarity. Bucht der Träumer* deliberately positions itself not just as a festival, but as a communal space where responsibility, mindfulness, and participation are core values.

As reflect.awareness e.V., we supported Bucht der Träumer 2025* with our expertise and awareness-team. Our collaboration built on previous years and was long-term and trust-based.
We are part of the ongoing development of discrimination-sensitive structures at the festival.Our collaboration builds on previous years and is grounded in long-term trust.

Preparation and structural awareness work
Our awareness work takes place throughout the year and is not limited to the festival itself. In discussions and exchange rounds with the organizers during the off-season, we worked on further developing existing awareness-structures and creating new support elements.

This year, key topics included:

  • Developing a shared understanding of awareness and responsibility
  • Addressing boundary violations and discrimination within festival crews
  • Increasing visibility of awareness services on-site
  • Clarifying the roles of crew members, volunteers, and the awareness team in daily festival operations

Awareness is therefore not seen as an add-on, but as an integral part of the festival’s structure.

Our role as the awareness-team at the festival
Throughout the festival, we were visible, approachable, and present on the grounds. We closely followed the festival events and provided support to visitors, crew members, and participants.

Our tasks included:

  • Conversations with people who felt uncomfortable or needed support
  • Accompanying and providing support to those affected by boundary violations
  • Mediation in tense situations
  • Providing retreat and conversation spaces

For us, awareness meant above all: listening, taking experiences seriously, protecting, and acting in solidarity—regardless of what happened.

Principles: Power of definition, partiality and community
Our awareness-work is based on an anti-sexist, anti-discriminatory, and power-critical stance. The power of definition lies with those affected: each person decides how they experienced a situation and what support they need. These perspectives were never questioned or relativized.

Bucht der Träumer* intentionally emphasizes community and mutual responsibility. Awareness is not just the task of a team but part of a collective practice. Our role was to make this stance visible and support it in the daily festival operations.

Impact and Significance
The repeated support of Bucht der Träumer* demonstrates how sustainable awareness work at festivals can succeed: through trust, continuous collaboration, and the willingness to continually reflect on and develop structures.

Awareness helped ensure that Bucht der Träumer* 2025 was a place where many diverse people could feel safer, explore, meet, and celebrate together.

We thank the organizing team of Bucht der Träumer* for their trust and long-standing collaboration.