Free two-day public AI festival in Heilbronn combining keynotes, interactive exhibits, art installations, workshops and family programming to make artificial intelligence tangible for all audiences. The fifth edition, held under the motto "READY ?!", draws 15,000+ visitors and 50+ speakers to the IPAI SPACES campus.
KI FESTIVAL is Germany's flagship public AI event, organised by the IPAI Foundation gGmbH, a non-profit based in Heilbronn. The 2026 edition, the fifth, runs across two days on 25 and 26 July on the IPAI SPACES campus (Im Zukunftspark, Heilbronn) under the motto "READY ?!". It is entirely free to attend and requires no prior registration. The programme integrates academic research, practical demonstrations, artistic exploration and public education to make AI accessible to audiences of all ages, from primary-school children to expert researchers. It sits within the developer and applied AI circuit tracked by Events Index.
KI FESTIVAL is the most accessible large AI event in Germany by design. Unlike professional conferences, it has no ticket barrier and treats the general public as its primary audience, positioning the IPAI SPACES campus as a national AI literacy hub. The 2026 programme runs to more than 100 programme points across two days. The format deliberately mixes scientific rigour (keynotes by international researchers), hands-on experience (interactive demonstrators, live coding), cultural exploration (art installations, including works curated with Ars Electronica), and social debate (panel discussions on ethics and society). This breadth makes it the main point of contact between the AI research community and the German public, and separates it from the badge-and-agenda model of most events on the developer and applied AI circuit.
The organiser frames the event around demystification rather than deal-making. IPAI Foundation CEO Moritz Gräter has described the aim directly: "AI is not an abstract concept for specialists, it is a tool for all of us." That positioning has held across editions and explains why the programme reserves as much space for beach volleyball, food trucks and children's workshops as it does for research keynotes.
The 2026 programme spans more than 100 points and includes:
Content themes: human-centred AI, AI science and transformation, AI engagement and literacy, ethics and responsible AI, embodied AI, AI in medicine, and human-AI collaboration.
The 2026 edition brings together more than 50 exhibiting institutions across research, industry, public bodies and the non-profit sector. Named participants confirmed by the organiser include:
The exhibitor mix reflects Heilbronn's wider AI infrastructure, anchored by the Dieter Schwarz Foundation's investments in local education (Technische Universität Heilbronn, DHBW) and the Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence campus. Professionals mapping comparable applied-AI gatherings in the region also track the betterCode() GenAI Summit in nearby Mannheim and the AI & Data Summit Berlin elsewhere on the developer and applied AI circuit.
Coverage of KI FESTIVAL is concentrated in German regional and public-service media rather than international trade press, which is consistent with its public-literacy positioning.
The organiser does not publicly disclose accredited-journalist counts or media-request volumes as of this verification.
KI FESTIVAL is a public event, not an academic conference. It is free, requires no registration, and is designed for all audiences. Academic researchers attend as speakers and visitors, but the format is closer to a science festival than a research conference, with music, food trucks and beach volleyball running alongside keynotes.
The IPAI Foundation gGmbH organises the festival. IPAI is a non-profit focused on the societal dimensions of AI, based at the Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence (Zukunftspark) in Heilbronn. The foundation took over organisation of the festival from the coding school 42 Heilbronn ahead of the 2025 edition, according to Heilbronner Stimme. The festival is IPAI's primary public-facing event.
Yes. Heilbronn has become one of Germany's significant AI research hubs, driven by the Dieter Schwarz Foundation's investments in educational institutions (Technische Universität Heilbronn, DHBW) and innovation infrastructure (Zukunftspark). The IPAI SPACES venue sits on this campus, and the 2026 exhibitor list (ETH Zurich, Fraunhofer, Cyber Valley, SAP, Porsche, Audi, Claas) reflects that network. KI FESTIVAL is the public-facing event connecting that network to the wider community.
"READY ?!" is the theme of the 2026 fifth edition. It frames the two days around whether society, workers and institutions are prepared for everyday AI, and shapes a programme that pairs research keynotes with hands-on demonstrators such as humanoid robots, telerobotic medical setups and autonomous agricultural machinery.
IPAI SPACES is located at Im Zukunftspark 11/13, 74076 Heilbronn, Germany, on the Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence campus. The campus combines co-working spaces, research labs and event infrastructure, and hosts the festival's stages, two workshop tents, demonstrator zones and open-air programming across the grounds. Heilbronn is served by direct rail from Stuttgart (approximately 50 minutes by IC train), and Heilbronn Hauptbahnhof sits roughly 3 km from the campus, with local bus connections running from the station.
Because the 2025 edition closed early on the Sunday after a severe-weather warning, a share of the programme is outdoor and weather-dependent, something visitors planning a specific session should keep in mind.
The IPAI Foundation gGmbH is a German non-profit founded to advance public understanding of AI and its societal impact. It operates the IPAI SPACES campus in Heilbronn, runs research and public-engagement programmes, and organises KI FESTIVAL as its primary public event. The foundation has institutional links to the Dieter Schwarz Foundation and is embedded in Heilbronn's wider educational and innovation network. Its social channels are @ipai_foundation and @ki_festival_by_ipai_foundation on Instagram.
CEO Moritz Gräter has set the tone for the event's public mission across editions, describing AI as "a tool for all of us" rather than a specialist concern, and framing the festival as a continuation together with the entire regional community. That mandate, closer to public education than to commercial conferencing, is what distinguishes KI FESTIVAL from the ticketed events elsewhere on the developer and applied AI circuit.
KI FESTIVAL is Germany's largest free public AI event, drawing 15,000+ visitors to Heilbronn for a format that deliberately mixes research lectures, art installations and family workshops to build broad AI literacy. Its fifth edition, backed by an exhibitor list spanning ETH Zurich, Fraunhofer, SAP, Porsche and Audi, is a reference point for how a research hub turns its network outward to the public rather than inward to specialists, a distinct model on the developer and applied AI circuit.
KI FESTIVAL is free. No registration is required. The event is open to all during operating hours:
Check the official site at ipai-foundation.ai/ki-festival/ for the programme, site map and any weather-related updates.
The campus is approximately 3 km from Heilbronn Hauptbahnhof, with local bus connections running from the station. The address is Im Zukunftspark 11/13, 74076 Heilbronn. Heilbronn is reachable by direct IC train from Stuttgart in about 50 minutes.
The festival programme is primarily in German. International keynote speakers may present in English. Check the programme at ipai-foundation.ai/ki-festival/ for individual session languages.
Yes. KI FESTIVAL explicitly includes family-friendly programming and activities designed for children and families, including dedicated workshop-tent sessions, alongside its research and professional content.
Yes. A meaningful share of the festival runs outdoors, including demonstrator areas, music and the beach volleyball tournament. The 2025 edition closed early on the Sunday after an official severe-weather warning, so visitors planning around a specific outdoor session should check for updates on the official site.
| Official website | https://ipai-foundation.ai/ki-festival/ |
| IPAI Foundation | https://ipai-foundation.ai/ |
| https://www.instagram.com/ki_festival_by_ipai_foundation | |
| https://www.linkedin.com/company/ipai-foundation | |
| Developer and applied AI circuit (Events Index) | /developer-ai.html |
| Upcoming EMEA events (Events Index) | /upcoming.html |