Fake News Festival 2026

Three days, dozens of events, hundreds of participants – that was the inaugural Fake News Festival, held from 18 to 20 June 2026. The programme featured high-profile keynote speeches and discussions, workshops for everyone, academic debates and entertainment. The concept devised by the festival organisers, Prof. Dr Charlotte Köhler and Ira Helten – to offer content for people of different age groups, levels of prior knowledge and interests – proved a success. Amidst disco balls and tinsel, they discussed the major social challenges of our time.

The IKM was also represented at the first edition of the Fake News Festival by our colleagues Christian Hochmuth and Laura Banna-Fischer. As part of the programme, they ran a workshop on disinformation and, together with the participants, examined blatant examples of fake news and analysed immediate reactions to them.

Where do the boundaries between fact and fiction lie? What strategies can we develop to deal with fake news confidently and critically?

You can find a detailed review by the organisers themselves here.

The festival’s website can be found at: www.fakenewsfestival.de