In 1952, the town celebrated the 1100-year jubilee of the founding of the monastery by Liudolf. A history play, "The Song of Gandersheim," was presented in the market square. This was the unofficial prelude to the summer festival "Gandersheimer Domfestspiele", which has been presented yearly on the plaza in front of the abbey church since 1959. Since this time, it has established itself as Lower Saxony's largest professional summer theatre festival. In 2006, its four major productions were attended by approximately 55,000 theatre visitors.