asphalt Festival

asphalt is a heartbeat festival - with appeal far beyond Düsseldorf. Every year since 2012, the 'Summer Festival of the Arts' has presented a dense and exciting program of drama, music, dance, literature and performance art in Düsseldorf. Over the years, the festival has developed into a crowd-puller with broad media coverage and is recognized nationwide as an important cultural platform. It is run by theater director Christof Seeger-Zurmühlen and composer Bojan Vuletić, who founded asphalt ten years ago.

"Out of the theater, into the city" is asphalt's original idea. Art is for everyone and it has to deal with what people and society are currently concerned with. Art is relevant and must take place - not in an ivory tower, but in the midst of life, whether on a small stage, a large stage, indoors or outdoors. Since the first edition, asphalt has therefore not only presented its program in established theaters and concert halls, but above all in special locations that are temporarily transformed into venues for the duration of the festival and each bring their own magic - including former industrial sites, museums, churches, private spaces, office buildings, streets and squares in public spaces, or even a floating lake stage in a green area in the middle of the city. Every year, it is exciting to see where art will enrich the urban environment thanks to asphalt.

asphalt not only presents national and international guest performances, but also helps artists to network and create new art. The festival is also a production platform that initiates and co-finances the development of new artistic works. Since 2012, 85 co-productions in the fields of theater, music and dance have been created, which began at asphalt and have since been shown in many other theaters, concert halls and festivals. The most recent example of a pioneering asphalt co-production is the performance TANZ by Florentina Holzinger - invited to the 2020 Theatertreffen and, according to a critics' survey by 'Theater heute', the 'Production of the Year 2020'.

asphalt Festival opens up spaces for art experiences and encounters, for new discourses and social developments. In the best sense, it is a festival of the arts in the city, for the country and for a diverse society.