Klassik!Picknick — Beethoven Orchester Bonn

High-caliber classical music in a picnic format

When the Beethoven Orchester Bonn takes its place on the KUNST!RASEN open-air stage in the Bonner Rheinaue, one of the city's most popular classical events begins: the Klassik!Picknick. Since 2018, the home orchestra of the Beethoven city has invited Bonn residents and guests to a free open-air concert with a picnic atmosphere once a summer — blankets on the lawn, picnic baskets, umbrellas, conversations until the concert begins.

Under the direction of Dirk Kaftan

Dirk Kaftan has been General Music Director of the City of Bonn and Chief Conductor of the Beethoven Orchester Bonn since the 2017/18 season. He traditionally conducts the Klassik!Picknick himself. The musical program is deliberately kept popular — concert gems, film music, waltzes, and symphonic highlights — chosen with families and occasional classical music listeners in mind.

KUNST!RASEN — Bonn's open-air stage

The KUNST!RASEN in the Bonner Rheinaue is the city's most important open-air stage in the summer. The large lawn area between Auensee and Karl-Carstens-Straße can accommodate tens of thousands of visitors — Klassik!Picknick is one of the most attended concerts of the season. Public transport is accessible via subway lines 16, 63, and 66 to „Heussallee/Museumsmeile“ or „Bonn Bad Godesberg“ with connecting buses.

Bonn — the Beethoven city

The independent city of Bonn was the federal capital of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1990 and remains the seat of several federal ministries and numerous UN organizations to this day. The close connection to Ludwig van Beethoven, who was born in Bonn in 1770, shapes the city's musical profile: the Beethoven Orchester named after him, the annual Beethovenfest, and the Beethoven-Haus, his birthplace museum.