Festival Centre
21.8.-21.9.2025
Wunderland

Opening Weekend Party with Guy Dermosessian am 23 August

Wunderland is the beating heart of Ruhrtriennale! Set under the water tower, nestled cosily between Pumpenhaus and Jahrhunderthalle, this striking pink structure designed by architect Olivier Goethals awaits you: children and adults alike. Starting off the Wunderland weekend on Friday evening you can witness rising literary local talents at Spoken Acts. On Saturday, things start heating up – fun and free Do-It-Yourself-Saturdays, workshops for big and small in the early afternoon and as the sun starts to set, regional musicians take the stage with Ruhr Diamonds. You may want to grab a bite to eat at Pumpenhaus, catch a show at Jahrhunderthalle, and return for the glorious Down The Rabbit Hole party. Renowned DJs from here and abroad take you along for a rhythmic ride – disco balls, neon lights, and summer drinks setting the mood.

Every Sunday we start the day with a Sunday Dancers workshop, for dancers at any level. Body activated? Great, it`s time to jump start the mind – at our discourse series Brave New Voices with significant authors, theorists and public figures. Or perhaps you join us later, at an afternoon Relaxed With ... where artists from our festival present an additional programme, this time in a setting attempting to cater also to accessibility needs of neurodivergent visitors. We invite you to linger a while longer – lounge chairs, refreshments, table tennis await you at Wunderland to close off the weekend.

Supporters Ruhrtriennale

Main Funder RAG-Stiftung. 

Funded by the Stiftung Mercator.

Visit

  • Opening Hours

    Fridays from 4pm
    Saturdays & Sundays from 12pm
    as well as before and after events in the Jahrhunderthalle, Turbinenhalle and Dampfgebläsehaus

Spoken Acts

What moves the young scene in the Ruhr area? Spoken Acts is our new stage for the spoken word by young actors from the Ruhr area. Between slam poetry and comedy, readings and talks, our acts negotiate issues that concern them and their generation in very different ways. Together they find the words to resist reality and relentlessly name their utopias.  Every Friday at 5 pm, Wunderland becomes a refuge for young word art from the Ruhr area. 

A lively audience under the pink wooden structure which is the festival centre Wunderland, with event booths visible in the background.
© Daniel Sadrowski

Do-It-Yourself Saturdays

A festival centre should be a meeting place. A place to participate and exchange ideas. With our Do-It-Yourself Saturdays workshop series, we offer workshops for big and small every Saturday at the Wunderland festival centre. There is room for creative minds in this centre with a variety of activities to get involved in.

An old water tower towers over the Wunderland festival centre, surrounded by the Bochum Jahrhunderthalle complex.
© Daniel Sadrowski

Ruhr Diamonds

Ruhr Diamonds offers unique opportunities to get to know talented musicians from the Ruhr region. Every Saturday evening, up-and-coming musicians from the Ruhr region perform in the festival centre at the Jahrhunderthalle. The concerts in Wunderland not only offer free admission, but also the chance to discover and experience new, creative sounds from the region.

A group of young people illuminated by warm sunlight.
© Lukas Wenninger

Down The Rabbit Hole

Cute Community Radio is a radio station, community space and hybrid platform for diasporic and migrant pop culture. Its weekly contributions present music, art and ideas from different communities and are received and celebrated worldwide. Guy Dermosessian, the Beirut-born DJ and founder, invites you to the Down The Rabbit Hole party series on three Saturdays for cute club nights to celebrate these multiple perspectives together!

Sunday Dancers

What languages does the body dance? Every Sunday, Sunday Dancers offers the opportunity to move the body together and to gain an exciting insight into the dance language of international dancers. Renowned choreographers and dancers from the various festival productions will give a workshop on movement and dance. The techniques and approaches of their artistic practice invite you to join in.

A dancer in colorful clothing swings her upper body backward, surrounded by other dancers.
© Volker Beushausen
Dates and Tickets
August
Thu 21.8.2025
6.30 p.m. Festival Centre Wunderland
Opening

Wunderland Soft Opening

Fri 22.8.2025
4 p.m. Festival Centre Wunderland

Wunderland

Sat 23.8.2025
12 p.m. Festival Centre Wunderland

Wunderland

9.45 p.m. Festival Centre Wunderland

Opening Weekend Party

Sun 24.8.2025
12 p.m. Festival Centre Wunderland

Wunderland

Tue 26.8.2025
6 p.m. Festival Centre Wunderland

Wunderland

Wed 27.8.2025
6 p.m. Festival Centre Wunderland

Wunderland

Thu 28.8.2025
6 p.m. Festival Centre Wunderland

Wunderland

Fri 29.8.2025
4 p.m. Festival Centre Wunderland

Wunderland

Sat 30.8.2025
12 p.m. Festival Centre Wunderland

Wunderland