Our highlights of the Ruhrtriennale 2025

It's that time again! The Ruhrtriennale is entering the next round and will be showing us the most diverse program you can imagine for a whole month from 21 August. The festival of the arts in the Ruhr metropolis is regarded as THE cultural highlight in late summer.

For one month, the Ruhr region is transformed into a festival site: For four weeks, there will be dancing, acting, music and discussions on stage.

We are looking forward to and excited about the realization of the productions in the extraordinary venues. You can find our highlights here - make sure you don't miss out and get your ticket quickly, as the events are in high demand. 👇🌟

To mark the 150th birthday of Maurice Ravel, the French ensemble Les Apaches! is taking his legendary Boléro to a whole new level - and you can be part of the Rave-L party!

Experience the Boléro in three completely different styles: as a classical orchestral work, as a groovy jazz standard and with Parisian DJ Tatyana Jane as a trance-like techno track.

And bonus: On August 24, tickets are available for €15 as part of the RuhrBühnen*Special.

A bus transfer is provided for the outward and return journey from Essen to Gladbeck.

Another must-see is the Guernica Guernica by the award-winning theater collective FC Bergman. A wordless, multimedia stage production based on Piccasso's painting "Guernica" awaits you here.

The Belgian collective deals with the impossibility of depicting war using only images, music and mass scenes. The stage becomes a battlefield, a work of art, a place of excessive demands. Victims, perpetrators, spectators - we are all part of the production.

My personal highlight and topicality is Oracle by Łukasz Twarkowski:

After the huge success of "Respublika" in 2022, the Polish director returns with a work that couldn't be more topical.

"Oracle" not only combines film and theater to create an interdisciplinary, intense and multilingual spectacle, but also brings you closer to artificial intelligence and, above all, its mastermind, Alan Turing.

Did you know, for example, that the Second World War was shortened because of him?

The "greatest hope of Turkish rock music" according to the New York Times is also here!

The singer and guitarist Gaye Su Akyol will make the Landschaftspark shake on 29.08. She is regarded as one of the most exciting voices from the Bosporus and creates a bridge between tradition and new beginnings.

She brings the sound of Anadolu rock into the present and mixes Anatolian folk music with post-punk, grunge and pop. With iconic style, rebellious energy and a deep sense of sonic history, she takes up where legends like Selda Bağcan left off.

Watch out movie and series fans here:

If you love the soundtracks of "Chernobyl" and "Tár", then OSMIUM is for you!

The Oscar-winning composer and cellist Hildur Guðnadóttir is coming to Duisburg and, together with James Ginzburg, Sam Slater and Rully Shabara, is bringing an audiovisual experience between nature, industry and a state of emergency instead of film music. All supported by a spectacular light show - and with the force of a musical volcanic eruption.

Ahmet Sisman and his project "The Third Room" are once again joining forces with the Ruhrtriennale to form a creative alliance rooted in the industrial heritage of the Ruhr region.

For two days in a row, pioneers of different styles come together in the Jahrhunderthalle Bochum to take the art of electronic music to a new level with DJ sets and live performances.

Line-up Friday:

Barker & JakoJako (live)

Colin Bender & Sterac (live)

Dasha Rush b2b Rødhåd

Polygonia (live)

Line-up Saturday

D.DAn b2b Freddy K

Mark Broom (hybrid live)

Mathew Jonson & .VRIL (live)

Nadia Struiwigh & UFO95 (live)

Every Sunday during the festival, you will encounter intensive discussions on the big questions of our time! From loneliness to climate justice to artificial intelligence, everything is included.

And so that everyone can understand everything, the talks in the "Brave New Voices" series will be simultaneously translated into German and English as well as into German sign language.

August 24: Dr. Janosch Schobin on loneliness in modern societies

August 31: Luisa Neubauer on climate justice

September 7: Marie Kilg on artificial intelligence

September 14: Ilija Trojanow on economic power and political influence

September 21: Presentation of the Mortier Awards 2025 in cooperation with the Mortier Awards association, followed by an artist talk on the topic of artistic freedom

Cute Community Radio is more than just a radio station, but also a community space and hybrid platform for diasporic and migrant pop culture.

Their weekly contributions present music, art and thoughts from different communities and are received and celebrated worldwide.

Guy Dermosessian, the Beirut-born DJ and founder, invites you to cuten club nights in the party series "Down The Rabbit Hole" during the festival to celebrate these multiple perspectives together!

And best of all: Free admission to all three dates!

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I would say, let's go! What better way to gather new inspiration during the summer break than this incredibly diverse cultural festival? You can find the entire Ruhrtriennale program here.👇 🤗