WaldCon is an 18+ furry camp convention held each summer at the Heidebrinkschule, a group house with a campsite on the rural edge of Dinslaken, Germany. Attendees sleep in beds in the house or in their own tents, eat together, and help run the weekend, and each year has its own motto that shapes the programme.
The 2027 dates have not been announced yet. The most recent edition ran from August 19 to 23, 2026, with an optional early arrival on Tuesday, August 18, under an Alice in Wonderland theme the organisers called "Wunderland". The organisers announced the 2026 dates a week after the 2025 con closed, so the Telegram announcement channel is the place to watch for 2027.
For 2026 the convention sold a day ticket at €30, a weekend ticket from Friday to Sunday at €70, a tent pitch for the whole convention at €135 and a bed in the house at €150, with the early-arrival option adding €15 to either of the last two. Every ticket included meals, drinks and the programme. Full refunds are available if you cancel at least two weeks before the convention starts, and places freed that way go to people on the waiting list.
WaldCon is a participatory alternative to Germany's hotel conventions. The weekend is built around shared meals, a campfire and workshops that attendees offer themselves, and the organisers have long encouraged people to bring their own programme ideas, from wood carving to a guided herb walk. Tent and house tickets cover the whole convention with nights on the grounds, which gives it more of a summer camp feel than a hotel convention, although day and weekend tickets are sold as well. Each year's theme carries through the merchandise and the programme: the 2023 edition was a forest school, 2024 a Viking hall called "Wald-Halla", 2025 a trip "In 80 Tagen um den Wald" and 2026 a journey into Wonderland.
The Heidebrinkschule is at Heidebrinkstr. 1, 46539 Dinslaken, in the countryside north of the Ruhr. By car, the organisers give directions from two motorways: leave the A59 at exit 2, Dinslaken-Hiesfeld, or the A3 at Dinslaken-Nord, then follow the route to Dickerstraße and turn into Heidebrinkstraße about 2 km later; the yard entrance is 50 metres along on the left. Park outside the grounds where possible and let the registration team direct you; cars may drive into the yard only to unload.
By public transport, take a train to Dinslaken station and a bus to "Hiesfeld Kirche". From there a TaxiBus (line 17) runs to "Hinter den Kämpen", a 500-metre walk from the site, but it must be booked by phone 30 minutes ahead, carries at most five people, and does not run at weekends or after 18:00, so groups should book three working days in advance. The alternative is bus 25 to Hiesfeld "katholische Kirche Oberlohberg" and a walk of about 2.4 km. The organisers also suggest finding a ride share in the WaldCon chat group.
Curated stays near Heidebrinkschule, Dinslaken, Germany.
Accommodation is part of the ticket, so you stay on site. The house has beds assigned by the organisers on arrival, and a group that wants to share a room can ask to be kept together if it tells the team early. The beds come with mattresses only, so pack a pillow, a duvet and a sheet. Campers pitch their own tents on the grounds and need complete camping gear, and anyone without a tent has to arrange a space in someone else's tent before the convention. The organisers collect tent sizes in advance to plan the campsite layout. If you only want to visit for one day, the day ticket covers meals and programme but no overnight stay.
A year-by-year record of this convention
Open an edition to see the details that belong to that year.
One day with food, drinks and programme, no overnight stay.
Arrival from Friday 12:00 to departure on Sunday, with food, drinks and programme.
A pitch for your own tent for every day of the convention, with food, drinks and programme.
The tent pitch ticket plus arrival from 17:00 on the day before the convention.
A bed in the building for every day of the convention, with food, drinks and programme. Bring your own bedding.
The bed ticket plus arrival from 17:00 on the day before the convention.
The tickets are priced by where you sleep, so the rows are alternatives rather than upgrades. Anyone sleeping in another attendee's tent still needs a weekend or tent pitch ticket.
WaldCon 2026 ran from August 19 to 23 at the Heidebrinkschule, with early arrivals from August 18, and followed Alice into Wonderland. The day-by-day programme included a tea party, wood carving, a herb walk, yoga, a treasure hunt, axe throwing, button making, sewing and the Saturday art auction.
The 2025 edition took place from August 20 to 24 in Dinslaken under a round-the-world travel theme. Afterwards the organisers thanked the kitchen, grill, washing-up and cleaning teams made up of attendees.
WaldCon 2024 ran from August 14 to 18 at the Heidebrinkschule with a Viking theme and a matching shirt design, with early arrival possible from August 13.
The 2023 edition, held from June 28 to July 2, turned the convention into a forest school with a timetable of "lessons", including yoga, axe throwing, a talk on emergency landings and an art auction on the last evening.
After two cancelled years, WaldCon returned from July 20 to 24, 2022 at its new home, the Heidebrinkschule in Dinslaken, with the witches' night theme it had planned for 2020.
Edition cancelled
The organisers cancelled a second year running because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Edition cancelled
The organisers called off the 2020 edition because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2017 WaldCon left Dorsten-Lembeck for Burg Husen on the Dortmund and Witten border, which added rooms with real beds next to the campsite. The convention ran from July 26 to 30 under the motto "Auf zu neuen Ufern". It returned to Burg Husen in 2018 with a Cthulhu theme and an evening LARP.
Trends
Compare dates, themes, attendance, charity, and guests across the record.
2027
Dates TBA
2026
Aug 19-23
Theme
Wunderland
2025
Aug 20-24
Theme
In 80 Tagen um den Wald
2024
Aug 14-18
Theme
Wald-Halla
2023
Jun 28 - Jul 2
Theme
Wald-Dorf-Schule
2022
Jul 20-24
Theme
Waldpurgisnacht
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View Full CalendarIf WaldCon will be your first furry event, our first convention survival guide covers sleep, food and pacing, and the first convention packing list is a useful checklist before you add bedding and camping gear. Travel to Dinslaken is the main cost on top of the all-inclusive ticket, and our con budgeting guide helps you plan it. Visitors from outside Germany can read our international travel guide for fursuiters.
If you like the camping format, CastleCon is a tent-based furry weekend in Horb am Neckar each June. For a large hotel convention in the same month as WaldCon, Eurofurence runs in Hamburg every August.
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2 quirks & policies that don't fit the highlights grid.
Everyone pitches in
The rules ask every attendee to help run the weekend, and the registration form asks which team you will join. Kitchen, grill, washing-up, cleaning and teardown teams are staffed by attendees rather than hired staff, because, as the rules explain, hired staff would raise costs and every outsider on the grounds would weaken the sense of community.
Bring sheets, pillow and duvet
The beds in the house come with a mattress only. You need your own pillow, duvet and a fitted or flat sheet, and the landlord requires a sheet on the mattress even if you sleep in a sleeping bag. Campers bring their complete tent gear, as no mattresses are supplied for tents.
