Nibelungenfestspiele Cultural Program — Children's Workshop Book Workshop

The Nibelungenfestspiele Worms

The Nibelungenfestspiele Worms have been the most important theater event in the town of Worms and one of the most significant open-air theater dates in Germany since 2002. Every year in July, a play specially written and produced for the festival is performed on the stage in front of the western façade of the Worms Cathedral, illuminating the Nibelungen material from ever new perspectives. Renowned authors such as Moritz Rinke, Albert Ostermaier, Feridun Zaimoglu, John von Düffel or Roland Schimmelpfennig have written for the festival.

Cultural program as an extension of the stage

Parallel to the performances at the cathedral, the festival has built up an extensive cultural program over the years that makes the Nibelungen material visible throughout the town. Lectures by the Nibelungenlied Society, academic conferences, exhibitions at the Museum of the City of Worms at the Andreasstift, film series with Lang adaptations and newer versions, readings, city tours and children's workshops form a multi-layered accompanying program.

Nibelungen Book Workshop for children

The Nibelungen Book Workshop is offered in cooperation with the ALISA Foundation. Children get to know the Nibelungen material in a child-friendly form, develop their own pictures, texts and stories about Siegfried, Kriemhild, Hagen and Brünhild and create from them their own small book that they can take home. Pedagogical support, craft material and bookbinding technique are provided. The workshop is a typical example of the cultural-pedagogical work that the festival does alongside the main stage.

Children's and family day on July 26th, 2026

A special highlight of the cultural program is the children's and family day, which takes place in 2026 on July 26th. Children and families have free admission to numerous program items on this day: workshops, readings, hands-on stations, theater tours. The format wants to lead the Nibelungen material out of the purely adult festival context and open it up to the next generation.

Embedded in the Worms summer season

The Nibelungenfestspiele are the largest Worms cultural date of the summer and a magnet for supra-regional theater and tourism audiences. The cultural program, including the Book Workshop, extends the impact of the festival far beyond the pure stage performance and actively involves the Worms population, especially families.