munich creative business week 2026

Germany's biggest design event #designconnects

Empowered by bayern design, the mcbw is the biggest design event in Germany and an important meeting point for the national and international creative and design industries. During its seven days, we annually bring together designers, design enthusiasts, companies, and students from all design-related fields and industries to promote interdisciplinary exchange and make the relevance of design accessible and tangible for everyone. To highlight the societal, ecological, and economic importance of design, each year we dedicate the mcbw to a new annual theme.

Annual theme: Playground of Possibilites

After years of complexity and constraint, a new creative impulse is rising – a new desire to create. An impulse that isn’t about perfection, but about participation. About curiosity, not certainty. About shaping futures without knowing exactly what they will look like. The playground is a place we all know – open, imperfect, full of motion and emotion. It’s where we try, test, fail, build, laugh, and return to. That makes it the perfect metaphor for design today: less about control, more about momentum. At mcbw 2026, we move through four creative territories – not as a linear process, but as a mindset for making, thinking, and imagining.

The four focus topics of mcbw 2026

All about the annual theme 2026

Empowering the Creative Self

Courage to Begin

Empower. Trust yourself. Begin without knowing it all. Creativity starts with self-belief – in you, in others, in the process.

Exploring the Creative Field

Space to Play

Explore. Play with ideas. Take detours. Rewrite the rules. This is where surprise begins.

Turning Ideas into Action

Time to Build

Act. Make what you imagine visible. Prototypes, pop-ups, platforms – Momentum beats perfection.

Creating Visions that Enrich

Visions that Last

Enrich. Create with purpose and responsibility. What lasts is what touches, helps, transforms.

All about the annual theme 2026

Annual Theme 2026

Welcome to the Playground of Possibilities

From 4 to 10 May 2026, we will transform Munich into a vibrant hub for design, innovation and creative exchange for the 15th time. Join us in discovering a new passion for design – playful, visionary and with an eye on the pressing issues of our time.

We will take you on an inspiring journey through four interlocking phases: from the creative self to new fields and bold ideas to visions that enrich our future. The 2026 theme, ‘Playground of Possibilities,’ offers space for your perspectives, impulses and real change.

Get ready: the playground of possibilities awaits.

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Find out more

Program 2026

The mcbw 2026 program is live!

Be inspired by a diverse program and select the events that interest you most across a wide range of design disciplines and creative fields – exhibitions, workshops, talks, guided tours, or installations.

Experience the mcbw and be a part of the design community. Visit the events in the heart of Munich and our partners’ events throughout Munich.

Create your own personal highlights on our website and share them with your community!

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To the program

Bookings for 2026 are closed

Meet our partners

For seven days, a wide range of event formats and installations take place across Munich, bringing design to life in all its facets. Our partners present their ideas, projects, and perspectives to an international audience. Each May, mcbw provides the creative platform for this exchange – an inspiring backdrop for the entire design community.

Our partners

The city as a playground

Discover our activities in public spaces

For the mcbw, the architecture collective of Studio Carraldo is setting up two interactive pavilions on the south lawn of the Alte Pinakothek—open, experimental, and interactive. Studio adpa is transforming Rindermarkt into a work of art, while university exhibition containers invite visitors to interactive exhibitions at Viktualienmarkt and Königsplatz.

Learn more

A day full of design and inspiration

Design Summit 2026

On May 4, 2026, the Design Summit will take place once again – one of the absolute highlights of the munich creative business week. Look forward to an event where designers, makers, and visionaries from around the world come together to explore the annual theme Playground of Possibilities from new perspectives. Secure your ticket now!

Get your ticket

mcbw tours

Discover all mcbw tours

Open Call for Students and Young Professionals

mcbw masterclass with leading designers

In four exclusive masterclasses taking place from May 4 to 8, designers Mirko Borsche, Ana Relvão, Gerhardt Kellermann, Steffi Bauer, Michael Geldmacher, and Stefanie Kubanek will offer personal insights into their working methods and careers. High school students, college students, and young professionals have the opportunity to apply for a spot and experience design practice firsthand in the designers' studios.

Learn more

Premiere: The mcbw hub turns into a design shop

For the first time, mcbw is opening a design pop-up store at the Ruffinihaus—right in the city center. A curated selection of distinctive design pieces with attitude awaits, put together by Frisches Design / Edition MUC. Come by, discover design from Bavaria, and get inspired.

Visit us

Our office as an event venue

Creative Morning Sessions at mcbw base

The popular Creative Morning Sessions are back for a new edition at the mcbw base, with talks, breakfast, coffee, inspiration, and exchange. Be there! From May 5 there will be a varied start to the mcbw day every morning at 8:30 a.m. Be inspired by the presentations—with hot coffee and oven-fresh rolls from Julius Brantner. There's no better way to start the day!

mcbw online magazine

Read all articles here

Recap: mcbw 2025

For the 14th time the munich creative business week took place in May 2025 under the annual motto “How to design a vibrant community” with about 65,000 visitors, making it Germany's largest design event. Inspiration, ideas, dialogue, networking, innovation, technology – #designconnects! Click through our mcbw archive and find out more about our programme and partners.

65k+

Visitors

200+

Events

210

Partners

390

Speakers

mcb_what ?

The munich creative business week takes place every year in May. During 7 days of mcbw, the creative scene meets in Munich to learn about the latest trends, technologies and innovations in the various design disciplines, to exchange ideas and to network.

More about mcbw

Partners of mcbw 2026

Contributors Wall

Planning and implementing the largest design event in Germany is only possible with strong partners at our side. We try to offer almost all events during the 7 days of mcbw free of charge in order to make participation possible for all interested parties. A big thank you goes to our supporters, sponsors, media partners, program partners and network partners who make mcbw what it is today!

Click here

#designconnects

Join the design movement

You already have an idea for an mcbw event and are interested in a project promotion? We have summarised our frequently asked questions.

Do you already have a cool concept for an installation or exhibition for the mcbw public space or mcbw pop-up? Write us an email and connect with us.

mcbw newsletter

Stay updated

We will keep you informed about the bayern design programme, interesting design news and the munich creative business week (mcbw). To subscribe, you only need to enter your e-mail address (*). With your voluntary information you support the personalisation of the newsletter.

Empowering the Creative Self

Exploring the Creative Field

Turning Ideas into Action

Creating Visions that Enrich

mcbw formats

Architecture / Interior Design

Exhibitions

Branding / Marketing

Playground of Possibilitites

mcbw 2026 x Cosentino

Public Spaces

mcbw 2026 x Figma

65k+

200+

210

390

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