Agra (site)

The Agra site south of Leipzig in Germany includes an exhibition center as well as a green space with a total surface area of 190 hectares (470 acres). The combination of a natural area and an event complex originated from the concomitance of a horticultural exhibition and an agricultural fair in the early years of the German Democratic Republic. The GDR agricultural fair named Agra gave its name to the site. With a covered exhibition area of 13,000 square metres (140,000 square feet), a car park with 250 spaces and an annual attendance of 750,000 visitors, it is the second largest event complex in Leipzig after the Leipzig fairgrounds of the Leipzig Trade Fair in the north of the city. The landscaped park includes a number of monuments distributed between meadows, gardens, bodies of water and groves. The park includes museums, for example, the Deutsches Fotomuseum (German Photo Museum), the Dölitz gatehouse and the watermill on the Mühlpleiße river. The site is intended for different types of fairs, exhibitions as well as festivals. It notably hosts the Wave-Gotik-Treffen, one of the largest Gothic festivals in the world, the medieval festival named Mittelalterlich Phantasie Spectaculum, the Tattoo & Lifestyle exhibition as well as the Fest der 25.000 Lichter (Festival of 25,000 lights), where the public comes equipped with lanterns, candles or any other sources of light.