Regional Association of Cities Cultural Days 2026 — Monschau, Roetgen & Simmerath

Eifel as a Cultural Space

The Regional Association of Cities Cultural Days are a young but already established festival format of the Aachen Regional Association of Cities. Founded in 2024, they travel alphabetically through the member municipalities each year: 2024 Alsdorf, 2025 Baesweiler, 2026 the three southern Eifel municipalities of Monschau, Roetgen, and Simmerath. Over three months, 20+ events — concerts, readings, theater — will be spread across characteristic venues between the High Fens and the Rursee reservoir.

High-Caliber Artists from German-Speaking Countries

The 2026 program brings together national and international stars: the Franco-German jazz duo Vincent Peirani & Émile Parisien, singer-songwriter Reema, author and sports commentator Reinhold Beckmann (with a reading from 'Aenne und ihre Brüder'), actors Christian Redl, Jens Wawrczeck, and Katharina Thalbach. The focus in 2026: crime literature in readings.

Three Municipalities, One Festival

The festival is designed as a traveling festival through the Regional Association of Cities. In 2026, the venues will be spread across three Eifel municipalities — from Monschau (historic old town in the Rur valley) through Roetgen (entrance to the High Fens) to Simmerath (Rursee reservoir, Eifel National Park). Each municipality contributes its own venues to the program: Evangelische Stadtkirche Monschau, St.-Michael-Gymnasium, Aukloster, etc.

Specifically in Monschau

Confirmed events in Monschau in 2026 (excerpt): Duo Gómez-Valero with a cello-piano concert in the Evangelische Stadtkirche on April 26; Jens Wawrczeck with an Alfred Hitchcock reading on May 29 at the St.-Michael-Gymnasium; Reema on June 12 at the Aukloster; and on June 14, a literary-musical performance by Benno Fürmann and Lisa Bassenge around 'The Great Gatsby' at the St.-Michael-Gymnasium.

The Aachen Regional Association of Cities

The Aachen Regional Association of Cities is a special association founded in 2009, comprising the city of Aachen and nine other municipalities — geographically located between the Lower Rhine, the Eifel, and the Belgian border. The Cultural Days are an important instrument for making culture visible beyond the major city and integrating smaller Eifel communities into the supra-regional cultural scene.