The Ruhrtriennale 2026 programme is out now!

In the third and final year of Ivo Van Hove’s artistic directorship, the Ruhrtriennale once again invites people to come together, discover meaningful encounters, and celebrate shared experiences. Ivo Van Hove: “I’m looking forward to another Fest with the Ruhrtriennale audience. Let us celebrate life despite the crises of our time – through shared encounters and experiences, through togetherness and exchange, and with a deep curiosity about one another.”

The opening production Rebel Rebel by Ivo Van Hove puts David Bowie's music in its centre. The piece is conceived as a commentary on the present, which is becoming increasingly dystopian. Alienation and isolation here are not merely socially conditioned but legally enforced. A young couple, however, resists, and creates their own utopia.

1946, 1977, and other autumns: in the world premiere of Deutscher Herbst, Christopher Rüping together with the ensemble of Deutsches Theater Berlin turn his ear to German history and explores the question of what happens when freedom is no longer a given. 

Krzysztof Warlikowski also examines the ties of the past with our modern-day life. In Europa, Warlikowski explores how trauma festers across generations – settling into families, memories and silences, and shaping lives long after the original catastrophe has passed.

Another highlight of the Ruhrtriennale 2026 is the music theatre production SIDDHARTHA by Lisaboa Houbrechts, which explores themes of identity and self-discovery. These are motifs that also feature in the poems of Emily Dickinson, which Joyce DiDonato brings to life in the song cycle Emily – No Prisoner Be. The Erased Music series is being given a grand finale: Chorwerk Ruhr, together with the Bochumer Symphoniker conducted by Florian Helgath, will present forgotten and rediscovered compositions by Roman Padlewski & Charles Tournemire at the Jahrhunderthalle Bochum.

The Ruhrtriennale 2026 begins on August 20 and ends on September 20. There will be a total of 31 productions and projects comprising 114 events in Bochum, Duisburg, Dortmund, Essen, and Gladbeck.

Ticket sales have started today. Up until 31 May, festival tickets are available at an early-bird discount of 10 %.