Wir finden den Veranstaltungsort auf dem Festivalgelände.

Because Veranstaltungsort is the direct object of finden, and direct objects take the accusative case in German.

Veranstaltungsort is masculine because its main word is Ort. So its definite article changes like this:

• nominative: der Veranstaltungsort
• accusative: den Veranstaltungsort

In this sentence:

• Wir = subject
• finden = verb
• den Veranstaltungsort = direct object

So den is required.

Because auf is a two-way preposition. After two-way prepositions, German uses:

• dative for a location
• accusative for movement toward a destination

Here the phrase describes where we find the venue, not movement to it. So German uses the dative:

• auf dem Festivalgelände = on/at the festival grounds

Also, Festivalgelände is neuter because Gelände is neuter, so the dative singular article is dem.

Auf das Festivalgelände would suggest movement onto/to the festival grounds.

Compare:

• Wir finden den Veranstaltungsort auf dem Festivalgelände.
  We find the venue on/at the festival grounds.
  → location

• Wir gehen auf das Festivalgelände.
  We go onto/to the festival grounds.
  → direction or movement

So the choice between dem and das depends on whether the phrase gives a location or a destination.

Not every German preposition matches one English preposition exactly.

In auf dem Festivalgelände, auf is used idiomatically with Gelände. A very literal translation might sound like on the festival grounds, but natural English often says at the festival grounds.

So this is a good example of why it helps to learn prepositions as part of whole expressions, not as one-word-for-one-word translations.

German often combines nouns into one long noun.

• Veranstaltungsort = Veranstaltung

  • Ort
    roughly: event + place = venue / event location

• Festivalgelände = Festival

  • Gelände
    roughly: festival + grounds/site = festival grounds

A very important rule: in German compounds, the last part is the main noun. It determines:

• the gender
• the plural
• the basic category of the word

So:

• Veranstaltungsort is masculine because Ort is masculine
• Festivalgelände is neuter because Gelände is neuter

Yes, Festivalgelände is singular here.

German Gelände is often a singular mass noun, even where English uses a plural word like grounds. So:

• das Festivalgelände = the festival grounds
• auf dem Festivalgelände = on/at the festival grounds

This is one of those places where German and English package the idea differently.

Finden is in the present tense:

• wir finden = we find

In German, the present tense can cover several things that English splits up:

• we find
• we are finding
• sometimes even we will find, depending on context

In this sentence, the most natural English choice depends on the wider situation, but grammatically it is simply present tense.

The sentence follows a very common German pattern:

• Wir = subject
• finden = verb
• den Veranstaltungsort = object
• auf dem Festivalgelände = prepositional phrase giving location

So the structure is basically:

Subject + Verb + Object + Location

German main clauses usually keep the finite verb in second position, and that is exactly what happens here.

Yes. German word order is more flexible than English, as long as the finite verb stays in second position in a main clause.

For example, you could also say:

Auf dem Festivalgelände finden wir den Veranstaltungsort.

That version emphasizes the location more strongly. English can do something similar with stress or phrasing, but German uses word order more freely for focus.

In German, all nouns are capitalized.

So in this sentence:

• Veranstaltungsort is capitalized because it is a noun
• Festivalgelände is capitalized because it is a noun

Wir is capitalized only because it is the first word of the sentence, not because it is a pronoun. If it appeared in the middle of a sentence, it would be wir.