Westend Festival at Springerplatz

Neighbourhood Festival with a Clear Stance

The Westend Festival at Springerplatz is not a tourist event or a large-scale event. It is a classic Bochum neighbourhood festival, organised every year by residents, clubs, neighbourhood coordination, and the Westend Network. The festival has been held every year since 2008 – as a visible sign of an active Westend, closely linked to the urban redevelopment phase in the neighbourhood.

When and Where is the Festival?

The Westend Festival 2026 will take place on Saturday, September 12, 2026, from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM on Springerplatz in Bochum's Westend district. The format is deliberately compact: four hours of stage program and hands-on activities that get a whole neighbourhood moving.

What to Expect at the Festival

The stage program and activities are curated by the Westend Network in collaboration with the Bochum-Mitte/Westend neighbourhood coordination:

• Stage Program with music, dance, and short performances by local groups
• Activities for Children: Play, painting, and hands-on stations
• Presentation of Local Initiatives: democratic, inclusive, and transcultural organisations from Westend
• Catering: Food and drinks from clubs, often with an international touch (neighbourhood with a high proportion of migrants)
• Meeting Point for the three quarters of Stahlhausen, Griesenbruch, and Goldhamme

Westend – The Three Quarters

Bochum's Westend is not a homogeneous district but an umbrella term for three quarters: Stahlhausen, Griesenbruch, and Goldhamme. Characterised by the historical Bochumer Verein (steel industry), today shaped by urban redevelopment processes, a diverse social structure, and a dense network of clubs. The Westend Festival is exactly that: the annual meeting of these three quarters under the open sky.

Westend Network

The organiser is the Westend Network, an association of neighbourhood actors, clubs, social service providers, and resident initiatives. The network sees itself as a platform for democratic and inclusive neighbourhood work and collaborates closely with the City of Bochum and the neighbourhood coordination. Springerplatz is the central public stage for this work – this becomes visible every year at the Westend Festival in September.