HISTOFEST. History on Full Blast

With the 2025 edition of the festival we demonstrated that history can be done in a mall, while this year we are putting the Europa Experience / the European Parliament Luxembourg and Ciné Utopia to the test with a focus on…HEROES.

What makes a hero? How has the notion evolved over time: who was regarded as a hero in the past and who is a hero today? Do we need (new) heroes in Europe? If so, which ones and what for? We will look for answers to these and other questions from October 7 to 9, 2026 with the help of the exhibition “The (un)making of heroes” (which will be on display until early November), hands-on activities, three film screenings (all Luxembourg premieres!), and a roundtable.

Our handpicked selection of photographs and (short) films will feature personalities such as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Lech Wałęsa, Lenin, Leopold II, and Pope John Paul II, but also “ordinary” men and women that find themselves measuring their own lives and deeds against “greatness”. Is heroism, after all, something beyond illustriousness and pedestals?

Wednesday 07 October 2026 at Europa Experience Kirchberg:

From 18.00 :

• Welcome and vernissage of “The (un)making of heroes” exhibition: tour and conversation with Dr Simina Bădică (House of European History, Brussels) and Dr Dora Komnenović (C²DH).
• Reception
• Hands-on activity in the exhibition

From 19.30:

• Be Somebody (OV with English subtitles) and Spiritus Sanctus (OV with English & French subtitles). Films and talk with Michał Toczek (filmmaker, Warsaw)

“The Polish Solidarity movement in a few objects”, display of items from the collection of the KARTA Center Foundation Warsaw

Participation is free of charge, but registration is required, online (up to 24 hours before the event) or on-site (on the day of the event).

Thursday, 8 October 2026 at Ciné Utopia

From 18.30:

• Doors open
• Introduction
• Berlin Hero (OV with English subtitles). Film by Wolfgang Becker
• Q&A with Dr Jacqueline Boysen (Bundeskanzler Helmut Kohl Stiftung, Berlin)

No registration required. Free tickets will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Friday, 9 October 2026 at Europa Experience.

From 11.00 :

• “Do we need (new) heroes in Europe today?”. Roundtable with Jean-Claude Juncker (formerly PM of Luxembourg and President of the European Commission), Charles Goerens (MEP, Renew Europe Group), and tbc
• Reception
• (Optional): exhibition tour and hands-on activity

Participation is free of charge, but registration is required, online (up to 24 hours before the event) or on-site (on the day of the event).

The exhibition “The (un)making of heroes”, featuring works by Niels Ackermann, Mine Dal, Piotr Małecki, and Ria Pacquée, will be on display at the Europa Experience until November 7, 2026.

Discover the 3-day programme