Tangente St. Pölten is a multi-disciplinary, socially inclusive, and ecologically oriented festival that takes a social-critical approach. It is targeted toward a local, regional, and international public.

The project is the follow-up to the application for the title of “Cultural Capital of Europe” and is financed in equal measure by the State of Lower Austria and the City of St. Pölten. Topics of global relevance are developed from the city and its history and made tangible. This makes Tangente St. Pölten unique. Art enables people to share surprising, formative, and long-resonating experiences together. This creates a public realm in which everyone feels invited to meet, exchange ideas, debate, and celebrate - and perhaps even to dream of other worlds together. In times of global crises, the future is increasingly observed as a threat. Tangente St. Pölten is concerned with the question of how we can regain the capacity to act and be creative. This is how the visionary, imaginative, and utopian power of art finds its purpose. The goal is to achieve a programme of high artistic quality. The focus is on the visual and dramatic arts, performance, music, and literature. A variety of socio-cultural projects will mobilise the city's community. People from St. Pölten, guests from near and far, will have the experience of being involved in the festival's events.