Dear Waldfrieden Community,
We were honestly just getting ready to do what we do every year – building stages, putting up fences, hanging decorations, and flooding you with excited festival updates. Instead, we’re writing to you with news we’d rather not have to share, but you deserve to know what’s going on.
The situation
The environmental office of our local authority (Minden-Lübbecke) has signalled that it will not approve Hai in den Mai 2026. This is the same authority that had no problem approving the event in 2025. Nothing about the actual situation on the ground has changed since then.
We commissioned an independent wildlife and species protection assessment. The result is clear: there are no technical or ecological grounds to prevent the event from going ahead. Our experts confirm that the local wildlife in the surrounding area has adapted to Waldfrieden over the years and coexists peacefully with the festival. All required protective measures, including safeguards for nesting birds during breeding season, are prepared on our end and the materials are in place. What’s missing is the authority’s willingness to engage in a constructive dialogue.
We’re pushing forward.
Setup is underway. We have legal support and a strong case. If the environmental office refuses to grant approval, we will challenge that decision. No solid justification for a refusal has been put forward so far, and if it comes to a legal dispute, we’re confident we’ll win. That said, our clear goal remains an amicable resolution with the authorities. We still believe that’s possible, and we’re working towards it.
It’s both deeply frustrating and absurd that it’s an environmental office of all things putting a place like this under existential threat. This is somewhere that has been run along ecological principles for decades and has lived environmental responsibility from day one. Waldfrieden isn’t just an event venue. It’s home to a huge and wonderfully diverse community of people who come together here. If Hai in den Mai doesn’t happen, we’re facing insolvency and this place could be gone forever. Cultural spaces in rural areas don’t just appear out of nowhere. Once they’re lost, they don’t come back. This is the moment where your solidarity matters.
What you can do: Sign the petition and share it. Be loud for Waldfrieden and put pressure on those making political decisions.
We’ll keep you updated – as soon as there’s anything new, you’ll hear from us.
You are the reason Waldfrieden exists. No authority can change that.
May the forest be with you,
the Waldfrieden Team
There is a €10 waste deposit per ticket, which you will get back after the festival when you return a full waste bag. One euro of the ticket price goes directly to the PsyClean crew.
Personalization
All tickets are personalized. After you have ordered and paid for your ticket, you can enter the name of the person who will use the ticket in the ticket shop under “My Tickets“. The name of the ticket can only be changed once. If you have received a ticket and want to check it for validity, you can do so by entering the code here that appears at the top of the ticket next to your name.
Transfer of tickets
The name on a ticket can be changed once. Under “My Tickets” you can get a new ticket with a new name.
Day tickets
This year, we will once again be offering a strictly limited number of day tickets for Friday and Saturday. These tickets will only be available four weeks before the festival, starting on April 2. Sunday tickets will also be available from this date.
Car ticket
If you want to park your vehicle, whether car, van or motorhome, on the campsite, you must also purchase a car ticket. The tickets are limited because we only have a limited amount of space available. If you arrive by car but don’t want to use it on the campsite, you can park it in the parking lot for a fee of €10.
Reduction
Wheelchair users with a disability card do not have to pay admission for an accompanying person.
At Hai in den Mai, four floors once again open this year for a journey through the different styles of psychedelic music. From straight driving to experimental, from warm groove to a clear edge.
The Main Floor is the biggest stage and the center of the night: different psytrance genres meet here. At Hill Top, things get a bit more experimental and playful, while the Backyard Floor tempts with alternative techno and cross-genre sounds. And in the Club, the program deliberately remains diverse: proggy, tekno and drum & bass alternate on the different days.
MAIN FLOOR
(Psy, Prog)
Act One
Bom Shanka Music / Bom Shanka Bookings
(United Kingdom)
Airi
Zenon Records
(Japan)
Alice D Joanna
Waldfrieden / xXETEXx
Alienatic
Nano Records
(Netherlands)
BiBou
Volkane
(France)
Chaosprofi
iDirty Records
E.V.P
Wildthings Records
(United Kingdom)
Elly Fetzt
Independent Artist
Fifs
Quintessence Records / Drops Music
(Slovenia)
Finndus
Sun Department Records
Flegma
TesseracT Studio
(Serbia)
Fungus Funk
Sangoma Records
(Spain)
Futuremoon
Digital Om Productions
High Roller
Sun Department Records
Imaginarium
Sacred Technology
(Sweden)
Kaliiraa
Luminara Labs
KOKMOK
Hadra Records
(France)
Koma Kommune
Parasomnia Music
Krypto
Arcanum Collective
(Sweden)
Lavinia
Yellow Sunshine Explosion
Mapusa Mapusa
Lexicon Records
Naima
Sangoma Records
(Austria)
NeuroLogic
Ajourney
NoctraVibe
Liquid Acid Music & Trance Oriënt
(Netherlands)
Patara
Parasomnia Music
Sabretooth
Iono Music
(United Kingdom)
sG4rY
Sangoma Records
Silent Sphere
Iboga Records
(Switzerland)
Sonic Entity
Expo Records
(Sweden)
Static Impulse
Mind and Movement
uultraViolett
(France)
Waio
Synk87
(Brazil)
Wubba Lubba
Art-X Recordings
(Sweden)
BACKYARD
(Techno, Alternative)
Adamson
Digital Diamonds / Insel der Visionen
Avo
Somatic Phase
Juelz
Alpaka Muzik / Zenon Records
Kerrosin
Human Siblings
Leon Licht
Sisyphos
Max Reflex
Salt og Dans Collective
Mr. Ciao
Moyn Festival / Alula Tunes
Paula Hilton
Weltenphase / Four Play
Rhabia
PADANG & Universal Tribe Records
Rupt
Zenon Records
(France)
Neurolabz
Zenon Records
(France)
Probe
Zenon Records
(France)
TILDA
xXETEXx & PointZero Records
(France)
Trilingo
Alpaka Muzik / Techgnosis Rec.
Tussi B
Waldfrieden
Vent Des Forêts
Guardian Records
(France)
El Batos
Ketoga / New Healing
High Roller
Sun Department Records
HILL TOP
(Psy, HiTech, Experimental)
Agaddess
Damaru Records & 420 Nightmares
(Israel)
Breakoacoustique
Post Modern Music
(France)
Caro Sunshine
Gaggalacka
ElektroEngel
Soundviecher / Mutterschiff
Enigmachina
Minuteless Recordings
Felix Viertel
Soundviecher
Jonny Crash
Hipnotic Tribe / Wachuma Records
Josephine Wicked
xXETEXx
Lemanik
Wachuma Records / Gaggalacka
MEiK
Gaggalacka / Banyan Records
miauhx
Gaggalacka / Krispy Gathering
Microorganizm
Noise Uplifting Records / Parivara Records
Necropsycho
Dark Valley Records
(Brazil)
Phara-O
Gaggalacka / Hitech Department
Psynonima
Spank Records
(Spain)
Raoul
Waldfrieden / D:LETED
Raumschraube
ACLR Tribe
Tzu-Jan
Sacred Sound / Amped Management
(Austria)
Xonik
NTFS Records
Zyron
Wachuma Records & Synaptic Eclipse
CLUB
T.B.A.
Psithurism
Main Floor
Psithurism is a decoration project for handcrafted canopies, visuals and stage designs that first saw the light of day in 2014 in the far south of Germany and has since made its home in Switzerland. At its core are organic shapes, deliberate colours, artisanal precision and a refined sense of space and atmosphere. Over the years, “Adult Playgrounds” have been created at many different locations across Europe – including at Fusion Festival, Ethereal Decibel, One Love Festival, Velocity and, back in 2022, at Waldfrieden for Hai in den Mai. A central approach at Psithurism is to understand decoration as a holistic system. Visuals, lighting, canopies and the entire surroundings flow into the concept. The goal is always to create structures that carry the music and transform dancefloors into cohesive spaces of an extraordinary reality.
Laser Dimensions
Main Floor / Stage Design
The structure breathes.
Lines shift.
Light follows an invisible logic.
What seems solid begins to live.
A stage of the highest calibre with 25,000 LEDs.
Nothing more will be revealed.
Optic Noise
Hill Top
Optic Noise Decoration is an established deco team from Germany with over 15 years of experience and is among the pioneers in the field of spandex decoration for psytrance parties. With a wide spectrum of styles – from bold fluorescent colours to natural, earthy colour combinations – they create impressive decoration concepts for open airs and festivals. Their inventory includes organic shapes, glowing holograms, 3D objects with a transparent look, hand-painted backdrops and large-scale elements – right through to delicate structures featuring several thousand perforations. In short: everything that brings a festival site to life. After a pandemic-related hiatus, Optic Noise and the friendly team Synaptic Eclipse joined forces – and have now become one. They celebrate their joint debut as a united team right in time for Hai in den Mai Festival 2026, where they will present their tried-and-tested HidM concept in a new light and bigger than ever before.
Sons of Earth
Hill Top / Stage Design
Sons of Earth Decoration
Philipp Rehse’s large-scale installations were last seen at Hai in den Mai 2024 on the Main Floor – this year he will conjure an expressive stage installation for you on our Hilltop. At night, this installation will once again be brought to life with a video mapping by his close colleagues Kazu Psithurism Dekoration, just as in 2024.
The focus of Sons of Earth Decoration lies on large-scale, immersive worlds that combine colours, shapes and the natural influences of the location to bring your surroundings to life. All to transform the space into a magical atmosphere.
Ready for a visual experience that moves the senses and transforms the night?
Provisuell
Lighting / Backyard Floor
On the Backyard, Provisuell creates a psytechno floor of a special kind. Industrial lamps, high-tech objects and plenty of analogue light once again turn the floor into a blazing cauldron. And honestly: no festival at Waldfrieden would be complete without the luminous support of Provisuell. For many years they have made our forest shine with their worlds of light, enchanting it time and again. For them, Waldfrieden is well and truly a home game. Rave on!
ARTUVISUAL by TIMBO
Schwarzer Platz / Installations
This year you can look forward once again to a journey through your own senses, with the fluorescent artworks of ArtUVisual by TimBo.
At the Schwarzer Platz, a fascinating world of colours awaits you with large-format original artworks and extraordinary, large, new tapestries!
Fancy a short break from dancing?
Then you can also look forward once more to the “Portal Wald” installation near the former Firespace, above the Ghost Floor!
A play of perspective and perception; a universe of colours, this time even more colourful and complex with even more artworks!
Don’t forget: at the Art & Fashion Shop at Schwarzer Platz you can borrow Chroma Depth 3D glasses for the artworks – for a journey into even deeper dimensions of colour!
We can hardly wait to create special experiences together with you again!
Public Beta
Schwarzer Platz
Public Beta will design the gallery at the Schwarzer Platz with large blacklight paintings.
Public Beta Wear creates UV-reactive clothing for men and women as well as accessories and décor that glow under blacklight.
Visionary psychedelic art in futuristic form.
With Chromadepth® glasses, every design unfolds into immersive 3D depth.
In the Healing Area by the lake, you can take part in spiritual programs. There are also many lectures and workshops on the topic of spirituality.
Before the festival you can find a detailed overview of this year’s program here.
We look forward to seeing you!
