lunatic e.V. & Festival

What lunatic e.V. & Festival does

lunatic e.V. is a German non-profit registered association (eingetragener Verein, VAT ID DE235940438) that has organized the annual lunatic Festival on the campus of Leuphana University Lüneburg since 2004. The festival is a student-organized, two-day live event combining music, art, and cultural programming — including live acts, installations, workshops, readings, film screenings, comedy, and dance — curated each year around a progressive values theme (2025 edition: 'Parallel Worlds'). It is operated by a reconstituted student team under three board representatives (Christian Haasen, Fabian Skotorzick, Marvin Sokoliß), with the broader event staff numbering around 10 and supported by volunteer labor from the Leuphana community.

The festival runs without proprietary technology beyond a custom accessible website (built by Silja Buhl and Johannes Ammon) and uses the Infield platform and app for ticketing, with sustainable ticketing partner Höme absorbing payment processing in exchange for a 5.5% per-transaction fee on net ticket prices. Revenue mechanics are entirely non-commercial: ticket sales, on-site food/drinks/merchandise (vegetarian/vegan only), and PayPal donations. Pricing is structured around four tiers — Standard, Solidarity (free for those who cannot afford, funded by voluntary buyer contributions), Little Bird (free for children up to 13), and Local Bird (discounted for residents of streets adjacent to campus) — with no commercial sponsors disclosed.

The festival is positioned around progressive values (sustainability, diversity, inclusion, FLINTA* visibility), formalized through signature commitments to 'Zukunft Feiern' and 'Keychange'. It draws attendees primarily from Leuphana students, young adults across Germany, local Lüneburg residents, and families, with social-cause partners (ROSA, SoliAsyl Hamburg, Omas gegen Rechts Lüneburg, Viva con Agua, SecondPage, neuerDings) operating on-site. The organization has announced a deliberate one-year pause for 2026 to undertake a structural redesign of the operating model.

Name

lunatic e.V. & Festival

Legal name

lunatic e.V.

Website

https://lunatic-festival.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

lunatic e.V. is a German non-profit that has run the student-organized lunatic Festival annually at Leuphana University Lüneburg since 2004, serving students, young adults, local residents, and families with a two-day mix of music, art, and culture under progressive sustainability and inclusion values.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Music & Cultural Festival

NAICS

Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries (711), Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Local Community & Multi-Category Fairs (MPAGAFAO)

Keywords

• Non-profit music festival
• Cultural event programming
• Student-run festival
• Live arts programming
• Community-led events

Headquarters

HQ city

Lüneburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: The primary revenue stream. Tickets are sold online through Infield (with 5.5% fee per transaction going to Höme). Standard tickets are available at regular pricing; solidarity tickets are provided free to those who cannot afford attendance, funded through voluntary additional contributions from other ticket buyers.
2. On-site Sales (Food, Drinks, Merchandise): Food trucks and drink stands on-site provide catering options (exclusively vegetarian and vegan). Art and merchandise are also sold on-site (portraits, books, shirts, prints).
3. Donations / Sponsorships: The non-profit lunatic e.V. accepts donations via PayPal to support festival sustainability and inclusivity. No commercial sponsors are explicitly mentioned.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

lunatic e.V. organizes and operates an annual two-day non-profit festival of music, art, and culture on the campus of Leuphana University Lüneburg. The event combines live music performances, creative installations, interactive workshops, film screenings, poetry, comedy, and fashion shows, sold to the public via time-limited tickets (standard, solidarity, children's, and local-resident tiers) distributed through the Infield platform.

Product overview

lunatic e.V. operates a single unified festival product — the lunatic Festival — held annually at Leuphana University Lüneburg. The festival combines music performances, art installations, and cultural programming including workshops, readings, comedy, dance, and film screenings into a cohesive event experience.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• lunatic Festival (annual edition, e.g., 2025) A two-day non-profit festival of music, art, and culture held on the Leuphana University Lüneburg campus for students, young adults, local residents, and families. Tickets are sold exclusively online through the Infield platform and app across standard, solidarity, Little Bird (children), and Local Bird (local-resident) tiers, with QR-code entry and refund handling.

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• HömecoreTechnology or IntegrationHöme provides the sustainable ticketing infrastructure for the festival, covering costs of an accessible ticket system and all applicable payment fees. Their sustainable ticketing approach ensures that the 5.5% transaction fee on net ticket prices does not go to large ticketing corporations but contributes to economic sustainability in the cultural sector.
• Zukunft FeierncoreOthersLunatic Festival is a signatory of 'Zukunft Feiern' (Future Celebrations), a self-commitment to sustainable event management. This commitment involves using green electricity, waste separation, sustainable materials, and promoting climate-friendly travel by public transport.
• KeychangecoreOthersLunatic Festival is a signatory of Keychange, an initiative committing to gender-just booking and lineups in the music festival sector. This aligns with the festival's progressive values of diversity and inclusion.
• Lünebuch Independent BookstoreminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLünebuch curated a selection of nine books thematically aligned with the 2025 cultural focus 'Parallel Worlds – Changing Perspectives, Breaking Narratives, Creating Realities,' available for purchase on-site during the festival.
• ROSA (Queer-Feminist Refugee Aid Organization)minorOthersROSA operates the Rolling Safespace at Europe's external borders in Greece, providing mobile support for women on the move. At lunatic, ROSA is present to raise awareness about their intersectional humanitarian work, with merchandise (shirts, prints) available for purchase.
• SoliAsyl HamburgminorOthersHamburg-based initiative supporting people affected by deportation. Present at the festival with a stand; merchandise (shirts, prints) available for purchase to support their work.
• Omas gegen Rechts LüneburgminorOthersRegional group of the 'Omas gegen Rechts' (Grandmothers Against the Right) movement, advocating for democracy, human rights, and solidarity. Present at the festival to engage attendees and raise awareness for an open, diverse society.
• Viva con AguaminorOthersWater and human rights organization. At lunatic, they collect deposit cups and run activism activities around water rights, encouraging festival-goers to donate their deposit cups to support their cause.
• SecondPageminorOthersLüneburg-based project that transforms single-sided printed paper into stylish notepads, actively combating paper waste. Present at the festival with notepads available for purchase.
• neuerDingsminorOthersBraunschweig-based project that crafts old festival tents into unique fanny packs — each one a unique piece with a story. Present at the festival demonstrating circular economy and sustainability.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Karneval der Kulturen: Berlin-based multi-cultural festival blending music, art, and community programming with progressive values; comparable diversity/inclusion orientation though much larger scale.
• Hörspiel Festival: Smaller cultural festival in Germany with comparable mix of performance art, workshops, and progressive programming; relevant regional analogue of a small community cultural event.

Direct peers

• Pop-Kultur: Berlin-based festival blending music, art, and cultural programming with a curated, progressive lineup; closely comparable to lunatic's mix of music, art installations, and cultural discussions.
• MS Dockville: Independent music and arts festival held in Hamburg with a similar indie/alternative profile and focus on art installations alongside live music; comparable in size and values-driven positioning in Northern Germany.
• Splash! Festival: German hip-hop and electronic music festival with progressive cultural programming; comparable as a music-led festival operating in Germany with a similar audience demographic.
• MELT Festival: German indie/electronic music and arts festival that combines live performances with art and cultural programming at a single venue, comparable in product structure to lunatic.
• Fusion Festival: Large non-commercial music and arts festival in Germany known for progressive values, FLINTA* visibility, and community-led organization; similar values DNA though materially larger scale.

Broad incumbents

• Way Out West: Swedish sustainability-focused festival and Keychange signatory with progressive booking commitments; relevant as a broader-incumbent peer operating in the same values-driven European festival segment.
• Reeperbahn Festival: Major Hamburg-based music and culture festival combining live music with conference programming; comparable Northern German footprint and music/culture mix, but materially larger and more commercially oriented.
• Hurricane Festival: Large multi-day German music festival; broadly comparable in live-music festival category but commercially scaled and not values-positioned the same way.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCwk2git-HWQ5RkyFMb3Z_sA
• Instagraminstagram.com/lunaticfestival
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lunatic-festival

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about lunatic e.V. & Festival