The 34th iteration of the annual Chaos Communication Congress (34C3) will again take place in December, but at a new location: the congress and convention center in Leipzig. Congress had to find a new home because its former venue, the Congress Center Hamburg (CCH), will be undergoing a general makeover. The new venue in Leipzig will provide participants much more space to tinker with.

The CCH was home to the Congress since 2012. Over the years, we developed a strong friendship with the team on site, so we’re sad we have to leave.

Finding a new location was not easy. The large number of participants combined with special demands regarding technology, lecture halls, workshop spaces – as well as areas to party and hang out – pose a challenge to any convention center in Germany. Even the CCH would not have been able to accommodate any more than last year’s 12.000 participants. „We’re not trying to grow at all costs, but expanding our cultural reach is very important to us. It’s always painful to be forced to reject more and more interested people at the door each year,“ explained Dirk Engling, CCC spokesperson.

With access not only to the main Congress Center Leipzig, but also to parts of the neighbouring convention halls, the CCC is confident to find the balance between a potential for moderate growth and a chance to maintain the event’s unique atmosphere. „Everything is on track for smooth cooperation,“ Dirk Engling said about the team in Leipzig. „After all, that city can look back on over 850 years of tradition hosting trade fairs.“

As usual, the gates will be open for participants on December 27th. Despite the challenges of moving to a new location, our goal is to keep ticket prices stable. And of course, we’ll continue to resist commercialization. On one hand, the new loation offers more space for some more participants. On the other, we’re going to need to depend more than ever on the solidarity of our community: By purchasing supporter tickets, one can directly enable others to attend at affordable rates. Just as last year, we’re aiming for a large black zero in profit. The start of presale is going to be announced at CCC’s events blog at https://events.ccc.de/.

Planning content for the 34C3 has already begun, and there will be a launch of the call for participation soon. „Hacker assemblies in the ‚Hackcenter‘ will be organized this year mainly around themes and interests rather by region. This should encourage even more interregional and international exchange between the communities,“ Dirk Engling explained. „And of couse, we’ll make every effort to tame the convention hall’s atmosphere and make it as cosy as our participants have come to expect over 33 years of congress history.“