diff --git a/.env b/.env
index bf9f13b95..8ae34e9aa 100644
--- a/.env
+++ b/.env
@@ -101,10 +101,44 @@ JWT_REFRESH_TOKEN_TTL=7200
 JWT_SCREEN_REFRESH_TOKEN_TTL=2592000
 ###< gesdinet/jwt-refresh-token-bundle ###
 
+###> symfony/cache ###
+# Backend for the application cache pools (feeds, calendar, screen auth/status,
+# interactive slides). One of:
+#   redis      - shared cache in Redis, connecting to REDIS_CACHE_DSN (default).
+#                Recommended for multi-node deployments: screen activation codes
+#                and screen status live in these pools and must be shared by all
+#                nodes.
+#   memcached  - shared cache in Memcached, connecting to MEMCACHED_CACHE_DSN
+#                (requires the memcached PHP extension). Note that Memcached
+#                evicts under memory pressure, so long-lived entries (screen
+#                status, activation codes) may disappear early; Redis with its
+#                default noeviction policy does not have this caveat.
+#   dbal       - shared cache in the application database (a cache_items table,
+#                created automatically on first use). Shared across nodes like
+#                redis without extra services, at the cost of extra database
+#                load. Expired rows are removed by the cache:clear that runs on
+#                every deploy.
+#   filesystem - per-node cache under var/cache/<env>/pools. No extra services
+#                needed; suitable for single-server setups without Redis. Expired
+#                entries are removed lazily and the pools are wiped by the
+#                cache:clear that runs on every deploy.
+#   apcu       - shared memory of the local PHP process pool. Fast, but not
+#                shared with console commands/crons or across nodes, and emptied
+#                on php-fpm restart. The official images ship the apcu extension
+#                disabled — enable it with the container env vars
+#                PHP_APCU_ENABLED=1 and a suitable PHP_APCU_MEMORY_SIZE
+#                (image default: 16M).
+CACHE_ADAPTER=redis
+# Connection string for Memcached (used when CACHE_ADAPTER=memcached), e.g.
+# memcached://localhost:11211 (no Memcached service ships with the dev stack).
+MEMCACHED_CACHE_DSN=memcached://localhost:11211
+###< symfony/cache ###
+
 ###> redis ###
-# Prefix for Redis cache keys to avoid collisions across applications sharing a Redis instance.
+# Prefix used to compute stable namespaces for cache keys, to avoid collisions
+# across applications sharing a cache backend (used by all CACHE_ADAPTER choices).
 REDIS_CACHE_PREFIX=DisplayApiService
-# Connection string for Redis cache server.
+# Connection string for Redis cache server (used when CACHE_ADAPTER=redis).
 REDIS_CACHE_DSN=redis://redis:6379/0
 # Session storage backend, consumed by framework.session.handler_id.
 # A `redis://...` DSN makes Symfony auto-build a RedisSessionHandler (with
diff --git a/.env.test b/.env.test
index b6bb163b4..05893a9c3 100644
--- a/.env.test
+++ b/.env.test
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ PANTHER_ERROR_SCREENSHOT_DIR=./var/error-screenshots
 
 DATABASE_URL="mysql://root:password@mariadb:3306/db_test?serverVersion=${MARIADB_VERSION}"
 
+# Tests must not depend on a running Redis (CI has none); all cache pools use the
+# filesystem under var/cache/test/pools.
+CACHE_ADAPTER=filesystem
+
 ###> lexik/jwt-authentication-bundle ###
 JWT_SECRET_KEY=%kernel.project_dir%/config/jwt/private.pem
 JWT_PUBLIC_KEY=%kernel.project_dir%/config/jwt/public.pem
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d68f005a1..d998b06b2 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+- Made the cache backend for the application cache pools configurable with the new
+  `CACHE_ADAPTER` env var (`redis` (default), `memcached`, `dbal`, `filesystem` or
+  `apcu`), so installations can run without Redis — `dbal` keeps the cache shared
+  across nodes by storing it in the application database. The pools were previously
+  hard-wired to `cache.adapter.redis`; the default is unchanged. See the option
+  descriptions in `.env`.
 - Restructured `UPGRADE.md` into operator and developer guides: the operator guide separates
   application-config migration (now based on 2.8's `app:utils:convert-env-to-3x`) from
   infrastructure config, covers four hosting options (os2display-docker-server, published images
diff --git a/config/packages/cache.yaml b/config/packages/cache.yaml
index eb3c49c4b..adcd5ab4b 100644
--- a/config/packages/cache.yaml
+++ b/config/packages/cache.yaml
@@ -11,36 +11,42 @@ framework:
         default_redis_provider: '%env(REDIS_CACHE_DSN)%'
 
         pools:
+            # All pools use the env-selectable adapter (CACHE_ADAPTER, default "redis")
+            # built by App\Cache\CacheAdapterFactory below.
+
             # Creates a "feeds.cache" service
             feeds.cache:
-                adapter: cache.adapter.redis
+                adapter: app.cache.adapter
                 # Default expire set to 5 minutes
                 default_lifetime: 300
 
             feed.without.expire.cache:
-                adapter: cache.adapter.redis
+                adapter: app.cache.adapter
                 # Safety net (24 hours) — code sets explicit TTL on items,
                 # but this ensures orphaned keys don't persist indefinitely.
                 default_lifetime: 86400
 
             # Creates a "calendar.api.cache" service
             calendar.api.cache:
-                adapter: cache.adapter.redis
+                adapter: app.cache.adapter
 
             # Creates a "auth.screen.cache" service
             auth.screen.cache:
-                adapter: cache.adapter.redis
+                adapter: app.cache.adapter
                 # Default expire set to 1 day
                 default_lifetime: 86400
 
             # Creates a "screen.status.cache" service ($screenStatusCache)
             screen.status.cache:
-                adapter: cache.adapter.redis
+                adapter: app.cache.adapter
                 # Default expire set to infinity
                 default_lifetime: 0
 
             # Creates an "interactive_slide.cache" service
             interactive_slide.cache:
-                adapter: cache.adapter.redis
+                adapter: app.cache.adapter
                 # Default expire set to 12 hours
                 default_lifetime: 43200
+# The `app.cache.adapter` service the pools extend is defined in config/services.yaml
+# (it must live there so the explicit App\Cache\CacheAdapterFactory definition takes
+# precedence over the `App\` resource auto-registration).
diff --git a/config/packages/doctrine.yaml b/config/packages/doctrine.yaml
index c67626df9..9b86a8573 100644
--- a/config/packages/doctrine.yaml
+++ b/config/packages/doctrine.yaml
@@ -9,6 +9,12 @@ doctrine:
         types:
             rrule: App\DBAL\RRuleType
 
+        # The cache_items table is created and owned by the cache layer when
+        # CACHE_ADAPTER=dbal (Symfony's DoctrineDbalAdapter); hide it from the
+        # schema tools so doctrine:migrations:diff and schema:validate don't
+        # try to drop it.
+        schema_filter: ~^(?!cache_items$)~
+
     orm:
         auto_generate_proxy_classes: true
         naming_strategy: doctrine.orm.naming_strategy.underscore_number_aware
diff --git a/config/packages/test/cache.yaml b/config/packages/test/cache.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index ed6d68236..000000000
--- a/config/packages/test/cache.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-framework:
-    cache:
-        pools:
-            feeds.cache:
-                adapter: cache.adapter.filesystem
-                default_lifetime: 300
-            auth.screen.cache:
-                adapter: cache.adapter.filesystem
-                default_lifetime: 3600
-            screen.status.cache:
-                adapter: cache.adapter.filesystem
-                default_lifetime: 0
diff --git a/config/services.yaml b/config/services.yaml
index 6cf679bb2..3562896a5 100644
--- a/config/services.yaml
+++ b/config/services.yaml
@@ -56,6 +56,39 @@ services:
             - '../src/Kernel.php'
             - '../src/Tests/'
 
+    # Builds the cache pool backend selected with CACHE_ADAPTER (see the pools in
+    # config/packages/cache.yaml and the option descriptions in .env).
+    App\Cache\CacheAdapterFactory:
+        arguments:
+            $adapter: '%env(CACHE_ADAPTER)%'
+            $redisDsn: '%env(REDIS_CACHE_DSN)%'
+            $memcachedDsn: '%env(MEMCACHED_CACHE_DSN)%'
+            $filesystemDirectory: '%kernel.cache_dir%/pools'
+            $logger: '@?logger'
+        tags:
+            - { name: 'monolog.logger', channel: 'cache' }
+
+    # Abstract parent for the app's cache pools. A pool's `adapter:` must be a service
+    # id at container compile time, so the backend choice cannot be a `%env()%`
+    # placeholder in cache.yaml — instead this service builds the selected adapter at
+    # runtime through the factory. Symfony's CachePoolPass replaces the two arguments
+    # with each pool's namespace and default lifetime, and merges the tag attributes
+    # below into every pool, mirroring the built-in cache.adapter.* services (cleared
+    # on cache:clear, reset between messages in long-running workers).
+    app.cache.adapter:
+        class: Symfony\Component\Cache\Adapter\AdapterInterface
+        abstract: true
+        factory: ['@App\Cache\CacheAdapterFactory', 'create']
+        arguments:
+            - '' # namespace
+            - 0 # default lifetime
+        tags:
+            - {
+                  name: 'cache.pool',
+                  clearer: 'cache.default_clearer',
+                  reset: 'reset',
+              }
+
     App\HttpClient\LoggingHttpClient:
         decorates: http_client
         arguments:
diff --git a/src/Cache/CacheAdapterFactory.php b/src/Cache/CacheAdapterFactory.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b07d3d51c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Cache/CacheAdapterFactory.php
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace App\Cache;
+
+use Doctrine\DBAL\Connection;
+use Psr\Log\LoggerInterface;
+use Symfony\Component\Cache\Adapter\AdapterInterface;
+use Symfony\Component\Cache\Adapter\ApcuAdapter;
+use Symfony\Component\Cache\Adapter\DoctrineDbalAdapter;
+use Symfony\Component\Cache\Adapter\FilesystemAdapter;
+use Symfony\Component\Cache\Adapter\MemcachedAdapter;
+use Symfony\Component\Cache\Adapter\RedisAdapter;
+
+/**
+ * Builds cache pool adapters for the backend selected with the CACHE_ADAPTER env var.
+ *
+ * Symfony resolves a pool's `adapter:` option to a concrete service id when the container
+ * is compiled, so the backend cannot be picked with a runtime `%env()%` placeholder in
+ * cache.yaml. Instead the pools extend the abstract `app.cache.adapter` service (defined
+ * in config/services.yaml), which delegates to this factory at runtime. Symfony's
+ * CachePoolPass injects each pool's computed namespace and configured default lifetime
+ * as the factory arguments.
+ */
+final readonly class CacheAdapterFactory
+{
+    public const ADAPTERS = ['redis', 'memcached', 'dbal', 'filesystem', 'apcu'];
+
+    public function __construct(
+        private string $adapter,
+        private string $redisDsn,
+        private string $memcachedDsn,
+        private string $filesystemDirectory,
+        private ?Connection $dbalConnection = null,
+        private ?LoggerInterface $logger = null,
+    ) {}
+
+    public function create(string $namespace = '', int $defaultLifetime = 0): AdapterInterface
+    {
+        $adapter = match ($this->adapter) {
+            // 'lazy' defers the connection until first use, matching how Symfony wires
+            // DSN-based providers (pools must be instantiable without a reachable Redis).
+            'redis' => new RedisAdapter(RedisAdapter::createConnection($this->redisDsn, ['lazy' => true]), $namespace, $defaultLifetime),
+            // Requires ext-memcached (createConnection fails fast without it); the
+            // Memcached client itself only connects on first use.
+            'memcached' => new MemcachedAdapter(MemcachedAdapter::createConnection($this->memcachedDsn), $namespace, $defaultLifetime),
+            // Reuses the application's Doctrine connection; the cache_items table is
+            // created automatically on first write (see also the schema_filter in
+            // config/packages/doctrine.yaml that hides it from the schema tools).
+            'dbal' => new DoctrineDbalAdapter($this->dbalConnection ?? throw new \LogicException('CACHE_ADAPTER "dbal" requires a Doctrine DBAL connection.'), $namespace, $defaultLifetime),
+            'filesystem' => new FilesystemAdapter($namespace, $defaultLifetime, $this->filesystemDirectory),
+            'apcu' => new ApcuAdapter($namespace, $defaultLifetime),
+            default => throw new \InvalidArgumentException(sprintf('Unknown CACHE_ADAPTER "%s". Expected one of: "%s".', $this->adapter, implode('", "', self::ADAPTERS))),
+        };
+
+        if (null !== $this->logger) {
+            $adapter->setLogger($this->logger);
+        }
+
+        return $adapter;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/Cache/CacheAdapterFactoryTest.php b/tests/Cache/CacheAdapterFactoryTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cb1228227
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Cache/CacheAdapterFactoryTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace App\Tests\Cache;
+
+use App\Cache\CacheAdapterFactory;
+use Doctrine\DBAL\Connection;
+use Doctrine\DBAL\DriverManager;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
+use Symfony\Component\Cache\Adapter\ApcuAdapter;
+use Symfony\Component\Cache\Adapter\DoctrineDbalAdapter;
+use Symfony\Component\Cache\Adapter\FilesystemAdapter;
+use Symfony\Component\Cache\Adapter\MemcachedAdapter;
+use Symfony\Component\Cache\Adapter\RedisAdapter;
+
+class CacheAdapterFactoryTest extends TestCase
+{
+    public function testRedisAdapterIsCreatedWithoutConnecting(): void
+    {
+        // The DSN points at nothing — creation must succeed because the
+        // connection is lazy and only opened on first cache access.
+        $factory = $this->createFactory('redis');
+        $this->assertInstanceOf(RedisAdapter::class, $factory->create('some.pool', 300));
+    }
+
+    public function testFilesystemAdapterIsCreated(): void
+    {
+        $factory = $this->createFactory('filesystem');
+        $adapter = $factory->create('some.pool', 300);
+        $this->assertInstanceOf(FilesystemAdapter::class, $adapter);
+
+        $item = $adapter->getItem('key');
+        $adapter->save($item->set('value'));
+        $this->assertSame('value', $adapter->getItem('key')->get());
+    }
+
+    public function testMemcachedAdapterIsCreatedWithoutConnecting(): void
+    {
+        if (!MemcachedAdapter::isSupported()) {
+            $this->markTestSkipped('ext-memcached is not enabled.');
+        }
+
+        // The DSN points at nothing — creation must succeed because the
+        // Memcached client only connects on first cache access.
+        $factory = $this->createFactory('memcached');
+        $this->assertInstanceOf(MemcachedAdapter::class, $factory->create('some.pool', 300));
+    }
+
+    public function testApcuAdapterIsCreated(): void
+    {
+        if (!ApcuAdapter::isSupported()) {
+            $this->markTestSkipped('APCu is not enabled.');
+        }
+
+        $factory = $this->createFactory('apcu');
+        $this->assertInstanceOf(ApcuAdapter::class, $factory->create('some.pool', 300));
+    }
+
+    public function testDbalAdapterIsCreatedAndCreatesItsTableOnFirstUse(): void
+    {
+        if (!\extension_loaded('pdo_sqlite')) {
+            $this->markTestSkipped('pdo_sqlite is not enabled.');
+        }
+
+        $connection = DriverManager::getConnection(['driver' => 'pdo_sqlite', 'memory' => true]);
+        $factory = $this->createFactory('dbal', $connection);
+        $adapter = $factory->create('some.pool', 300);
+        $this->assertInstanceOf(DoctrineDbalAdapter::class, $adapter);
+
+        $item = $adapter->getItem('key');
+        $adapter->save($item->set('value'));
+        $this->assertSame('value', $adapter->getItem('key')->get());
+    }
+
+    public function testDbalAdapterRequiresAConnection(): void
+    {
+        $factory = $this->createFactory('dbal');
+
+        $this->expectException(\LogicException::class);
+        $factory->create('some.pool', 300);
+    }
+
+    public function testUnknownAdapterIsRejected(): void
+    {
+        $factory = $this->createFactory('bogus');
+
+        $this->expectException(\InvalidArgumentException::class);
+        $this->expectExceptionMessage('Unknown CACHE_ADAPTER "bogus"');
+        $factory->create('some.pool', 300);
+    }
+
+    private function createFactory(string $adapter, ?Connection $dbalConnection = null): CacheAdapterFactory
+    {
+        return new CacheAdapterFactory(
+            $adapter,
+            'redis://localhost.invalid:6379/0',
+            'memcached://localhost.invalid:11211',
+            sys_get_temp_dir().'/cache-adapter-factory-test',
+            $dbalConnection,
+        );
+    }
+}