PLAY26 - Creative Gaming Festival
The 19th edition of Hamburg's PLAY - Creative Gaming Festival runs 18-21 November 2026 at URBANEO in HafenCity, under the motto 'Hey, listen! - Music & Emotion'.
PLAY - Creative Gaming Festival returns to Hamburg for its 19th edition from 18 to 21 November 2026. The venue is URBANEO - Junges Architekturzentrum in the HafenCity district, with parts of the programme also available online. This year's motto is 'Hey, listen! - Music & Emotion', inspired by mixtape culture and the way games use sound to make us feel something.
PLAY is not a trade fair: it is a festival about the creative side of gaming culture. Over four days it combines playable indie and art games, workshops, talks and hands-on formats where visitors make things with and around games rather than just consuming them. It is aimed at anyone curious about games as a creative medium - players, students, teachers, families and aspiring developers alike.
For players from Croatia and the wider region, it is a different kind of gaming trip than a big expo: smaller, experimental and focused on ideas. Hamburg is well connected by direct flights from the region, and the festival sits in one of the city's most walkable new districts. Programme details are published on the official site closer to the event.
Image: Ajepbah / CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ericush%C3%B6ft_(Hamburg-HafenCity).14.12471.ajb.jpg