DiS# – Dortmund Inclusive Sound Festival

When Inclusion Becomes an Artistic Device

The DiS# – Dortmund Inclusive Sound Festival is more than a well-intentioned charity concert. Since 2008, the festival, developed by gesamtkunstwerk e.V. in Dortmund's Nordstadt, has become a serious player in the inclusive culture scene in North Rhine-Westphalia. Bands perform on stage where musicians with and without cognitive or physical disabilities operate as equals — as co-composers, soloists, singers, drummers. Inclusion here is not an add-on, but an artistic concept.

A Format That Grows

2026 marks the tenth anniversary of the event. The festival opens on August 29, 2026, at FZW (Freizeitzentrum West) — one of the city's most important concert venues — and will subsequently run until November across several performance spaces in Dortmund and the surrounding district: concerts, theatre performances, workshops, discussion events, and performances. The spectrum ranges from jazz and pop to rock and electronic music, as well as experimental spoken word and dance formats.

The Artists

Previous editions featured acts such as Collective One, NIA, Sebastian 23, das Tanzorchester Paschulke, and Piano Plus — ensembles that come from the inclusive music context themselves or are explicitly designed for it. The festival works closely with workshops, special schools, and independent art initiatives in NRW and produces its own commissioned formats.

Accessibility That Is Self-Evident

The organisers view accessibility not as a mere obligation, but as a design task: programme information in Easy Language, detailed information on wheelchair spaces, sign language interpretation at selected events, inclusion assistants on call. The website dis-festival.com offers all content in Easy Reading versions as well.

Funding and Significance

The festival is supported by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the cultural office of the City of Dortmund, and several regional cultural funders. In the nationwide discussion about inclusive cultural work, DiS# is considered a benchmark project — precisely because it never compromises artistic quality for social aims, but rather integrates both.