NaBaTach — Neighbourhood Day Ückendorf

An Entire Neighbourhood Comes Together

Anyone experiencing Ückendorf on a September Saturday will hardly recognize the area: Bochumer Straße, usually a thoroughfare between Gelsenkirchen-Mitte and Bochum-Wattenscheid, will be car-free for the Neighbourhood Day 'NaBaTach' and filled with stalls, a stage, hands-on activities, and people. It's the neighbourhood's big annual declaration of self-affirmation — and the kick-off for the second half of the year's community work.

What's Behind It — The Ückendorf Aktiv Neighbourhood Initiative

The event is organized by the association Stadtteiloffensive Ückendorf aktiv e.V., which has been shaping the district's profile for years. Ückendorf is one of the most exciting neighbourhoods in the Ruhr area: old workers' settlements, a history of migration, a growing creative scene around the Kunsthalle Wissenschaftspark and the HKW Gelsenkirchen. NaBaTach celebrates precisely this mix — tradition and new beginnings.

Programme Character

The programme is deliberately participatory: instead of top-down entertainment, the neighbourhood's stakeholders present themselves. On Bochumer Straße, you'll find:

• Hands-on stalls from clubs, initiatives, religious communities, schools, kindergartens, and social organizations
• Live music on a small stage, often featuring bands and acts from the neighbourhood
• Creative activities for children and young people — crafting, face painting, small workshops
• Neighbourhood history stations with photos, stories, and archives from the district
• International cuisine — Ückendorf's diverse migrant population on a plate

The atmosphere is familial, accessible, and authentic — not a sponsored mega-event, but a citizen initiative in the best sense.

Ückendorf in Transition

With the Wissenschaftspark, the urban renewal project Bochumer Straße, and an increasingly active art scene, Ückendorf has been considered a hidden gem neighbourhood in the Emscher region for several years. NaBaTach makes this transformation visible to everyone annually: on the exact Saturday in September when the district festival 'Bezirksfest Ost' takes place in the city centre, the sense of community in the entire southern Gelsenkirchen area expands.