Die Hardt bewegt — Children's and Family Festival Wuppertal

Die Hardt bewegt — Family Festival with City Park Quality

Do you live in Wuppertal or come from the Bergisches Land and are looking for a family festival that doesn't involve a lot of noise and marketing hype? Then the fourth Sunday in June will lead you to the Hardt — the elevated park area above the Wuppertal district of Elberfeld. For five hours, the entire area between the Bismarck Tower and the Elisenturm will be transformed into a diverse hands-on zone for children, teenagers, and families.

The Hardt Area

The Hardt has been one of Wuppertal's most important green spaces since the 19th century — a spacious landscape park with two historic observation towers (the Bismarck Tower, built in 1903, and the Elisenturm, erected in 1838), the Botanical Garden, a large playground with a playhouse, a skate park, and a tropical house. Looking down over the Hardt area, you can see the Wuppertal Rhine meadows and the striking heights of the Bergisches Land.

The Stage Program from 2 PM

From 2 PM onwards, the main stage will feature a packed program — folklore dances by international groups from Wuppertal's migrant communities, hip-hop crews from local youth centers, jazz ensembles, and modern dance performances. The finale, around 5:15 PM on the Waldbühne (forest stage), will be the new program “Josi und seine Freunde II" by Meike van Bebber & Friends, a Wuppertal music educator who has been performing a well-known live program for children for years.

Hands-On Stations

Stations for children are spread across the entire grounds: circus arts with juggling balls and diablos, acrobatics workshops, craft stations, a storytelling tent, a children's circus meadow, plus bouncy castles and small interactive games. The Botanical Garden offers guided children's tours, and the Elisenturm opens its observation deck.

Food and Atmosphere

A barbecue stand, café, waffles, cakes, and coffee will provide refreshments. The event is explicitly planned as an intergenerational festival — families with small children, school groups, seniors, teenagers with their skateboards (the skate park remains open). The Wuppertal City Youth Welfare Office organizes the festival together with the Botanical Garden and a number of local cultural and social associations.

Wuppertal and the Bergisches Land

Wuppertal is an independent city in the administrative district of Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia — with around 360,000 inhabitants, it is one of the larger cities in the Bergisches Land and home to the famous suspension railway. The Hardt is centrally located between the Elberfeld and Briller Viertel districts and is easily accessible by bus or on foot from the city center.