Drachenfest: Domanium, Waldeck & operators sign declaration

The town of Waldeck and the Waldeck Domanial Administration want to jointly support the Drachenfest Unternehmergesellschaft's interest in bringing one of Germany's largest role-playing events with guests from all over the world to Waldeck. To this end, they signed a joint declaration of intent this week.

In future, part of the area currently leased to Waldeck Golf Club by the Waldeck Domanial Administration as the owner is to be used for this purpose. The Domanium and the town welcome the joint use of the area for the kite festival and golf. Until now, the area has been used solely by the golf club.

"Unfortunately, it is no longer economically viable in this form," says Hendrik Block, Head of the Domanial Administration, explaining the decision in favour of communal use. The golf club has leased the site since 2022. "As a start-up aid, we made the area available at the beginning for a significantly reduced fee. Although there have been repeated discussions to adjust the lease amount, it has not yet been possible to reach an agreement with the golf club on a market rent." The Domanium also had to budget economically with the municipal assets and could not let the club use the entire site on a long-term basis for a reduced fee.

Shared use desirable
Domanium and the city therefore continue to strive for shared use: The golf club would reduce its offering to a 9-hole course including driving range, but could continue to use a 35-hectare section of the site for this purpose. The Dragon Festival could use the other part of the site for its event. Independent contractual relationships, unrestricted utilisation options and separate access routes for both events would be possible.

Dragon Festival 2026 in Waldeck
The organisers of the Dragon Festival support this proposal - and express their joint intention with the town of Waldeck and the Domanium to establish the role-playing event on part of the site. "Until now, our event has taken place at the Quast in Diemelstadt. However, the owner will no longer be able to make the area available to us in future, as photovoltaic systems are to be installed there," says Managing Director Sandra Wolter. "We are therefore delighted to be working with all those involved to take all the necessary steps to ensure that our multi-day kite festival can take place in Waldeck in future." This includes, among other things, appropriate land-use planning, authorisation procedures and operation in compliance with all nature conservation regulations. The plan is for the festival to take place in Waldeck as early as 2026.

"The national park town of Waldeck welcomes the multifunctional use of the site. For the kite festival and for golf. We will therefore support the creation of planning permission and the provision of public space for the establishment of the kite festival accordingly," says Mayor Nicolas Havel. "The kite festival attracts several thousand visitors from all over the world to the region every year. It therefore also offers great added value and value creation for the region."

Background: Drachenfest
The Drachenfest is a multi-day live role-playing game that is the second largest event of its kind in Germany with around 6,000 participants. In this immersive form of role-playing game, participants physically represent their characters and interact with each other in real time. It is characterised by the fact that participants immerse themselves in a fictional world - by dressing up, slipping into roles and experiencing and creating a story together. It is important that the event takes place in a real environment, often in specially selected locations such as castles, forests or specially designed play areas that match the atmosphere of the respective game world. The combination of acting, improvisation and social interaction makes live role-playing games a unique form of creative self-development and collaborative storytelling. The next Dragon Festival will take place from 29 July to 3 August 2025 - for the last time in Diemelstadt. It is due to take place in Waldeck as early as 2026.

Caption: The Dragon Festival - one of Germany's largest role-playing events with guests from all over the world - is to be held in Waldeck from next year. (Photo: Nabil Hanano)