Orgel Plus Festival Bottrop

Organ + Everything Else

The Orgel Plus Festival Bottrop is one of the most exciting classical concepts in the Ruhr area in January. The festival pursues a clear approach: the organ is combined with other instruments and art forms — electric guitar, piano, pan flute, violin, harp, brass, plus film, dance, and visual arts. The idea: to detach classical church music from its purely liturgical context and bring it into dialogue with other sound worlds.

Six Venues Across the City Area

Concerts take place in several Bottrop churches, each possessing a characteristic organ: St. Cyriakus (the city's main church), Liebfrauenkirche, St. Johannes in the Boy district, Martinskirche, St. Joseph in Batenbrock, as well as the Kammerkonzertsaal as a smaller venue. This distribution also makes the festival an acoustic city tour — each organ has its own sound.

2026 Programme

The nine-day programme includes around 15 events: Taster Concert on 3.1. at 11 am in St. Cyriakus (Organ + Electric Guitar), Opening Service on 4.1. at 11:15 am with a project choir, New Year's Concert on 4.1. at 4 pm (“Organ PLUS Brass Instruments”), concerts with Organ + Piano, Pan Flute, Violin, and Harp, a Family Concert on 8.1. in the Liebfrauenkirche, an Excursion on 10.1. to the organs in Arnhem (Netherlands), and the Closing Service with a final concert on 11.1.

Bottrop as a Classical City in the Ruhr Area

With the Orgel Plus Festival, Bottrop cultivates one of the most conceptually strong classical festivals in the northern Ruhr area. The festival is co-organized by the city's cultural office and its tickets are available through the Theaterkasse (Böckenhoffstraße 12a). With this blend of sacred ambition and experimental openness, Bottrop positions itself as a specific festival location alongside the Ruhr area's classical scene (Essen Philharmonie, Bochum Symphoniker).