Ruhrtriennale

Ruhrtriennale — the Industrial Monument as a Stage

The Ruhrtriennale is one of the most important international festivals for music theatre, dance, installation, and performance in Europe. Since its founding in 2002 under Gerard Mortier, it has utilized a unique resource of the Ruhr area: the monumental industrial monuments — gasometers, blast furnace halls, engine houses, steelworks — transforming them into extraordinary venues for contemporary art of the highest calibre. From August 20 to September 20, 2026, the next edition will run — five weeks of festival with 114 events at 12 venues.

Duisburg Highlight — Marina Abramović „Balkan Erotic Epic“

The Duisburg venue for Ruhrtriennale 2026 is the Kraftzentrale in Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord — one of Europe's most spectacular industrial monument stages. Here, Serbian performance artist Marina Abramović presents her new work „Balkan Erotic Epic“ — from September 3, 2026. Abramović — a performance icon, world-famous since 2010 for the retrospective „The Artist Is Present“ at MoMA New York — returns to one of Europe's most important festival formats with this production. Tickets for this performance have been on pre-sale since December 9, 2025.

The Twelve Venues 2026

The Ruhrtriennale is a festival without a central festival site — it takes place in multiple cities simultaneously. In 2026, the 114 events will be spread across:

• Bochum — Jahrhunderthalle (Festival Headquarters)
• Duisburg — Kraftzentrale Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord (Abramović Venue)
• Essen — PACT Zollverein, Maschinenhaus Zeche Zollverein
• Dortmund — various venues
• Gladbeck — Maschinenhalle Zweckel

Plus other industrial monuments depending on the season's program.

Opening „Rebel Rebel“

The 2026 festival opening is titled „Rebel Rebel“ — a tribute to David Bowie and a programmatic statement for the festival's concept of constantly breaking genre boundaries. Exact opening dates available at ruhrtriennale.de.

5 Premieres, 9 German Premieres

The 2026 programming promises a high premiere factor: 5 premieres and 9 German premieres — figures that underscore the Ruhrtriennale's significance as a production platform (not just a presentation festival). Pre-orders have been available since December 2025; the full program was released on April 23, 2026, with regular ticket sales starting then.

Kraftzentrale Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord

The Kraftzentrale is a 200-meter-long former power supply building of the Meiderich ironworks (decommissioned in 1985). Today, it is part of the spectacular Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord — one of Europe's most important industrial heritage sites, creatively repurposed by Latz + Partner. The Kraftzentrale offers an extraordinary stage backdrop: high industrial crown, steel architecture, dramatic acoustics — a perfect space for performances like Abramović's „Balkan Erotic Epic“.

Wunderland — the Social Festival Hub

Accompanying the program, the Ruhrtriennale operates the Wunderland Festival Centre as a space for workshops, encounters, creative inspiration, and festival breaks. Here, artists and audiences come together — an important element of the festival atmosphere.