The Düsseldorf Festival is a colorful playground that invites you to approach art in a playful way. It is an open place for newcomers and specialists alike. Above all, however, it is a place for the enjoyment of sensuality and the satisfaction of curiosity.
Düsseldorf Festival, the festival for performing arts in the fields of theater, music, new circus and dance. The wide-ranging program is primarily dedicated to the interdisciplinary and cross-style arts. Founded in the early 1990s as the “Altstadtherbst Kulturfestival”, the festival saw itself as an alternative concept to the classic sectoral operation of public venues and the classical concert business in the city. The festival center on Burgplatz, the large theater tent, still hosts a top-class international program that has an impact far beyond the region.
The Hungarian Eva Duda Dance Company kicked off the festival in the theater tent on Burgplatz with their powerful dance piece “Frida”. The opening concert in St. Andrew’s Church was once again an integral part of this year’s festival. The Neanderkirche also offered an emotional highlight with Wolfram Goertz’s “Nah am Wasser gebaut”, and the Canadian ensemble “Play Dead” impressed the audience in the theater tent with expressive artistry.
A special highlight was the German premiere of the work “11,000 Strings” by Georg Friedrich Haas, which Klangforum Wien played in the Düsseldorf exhibition hall – accompanied by 50 locally cast pianists. International artists such as Oum from Morocco, who brought the theater tent to life, and the Ukrainian singer Ganna, who performed on the Skydeck in the Medienhafen, also brought global sounds to Düsseldorf.
Cross-genre performances also had their place: the ensemble “Shechter II” from England, the Australian artistic formation “Gravity & Other Myths” and the ensemble Continuum captivated the audience and lent the festival an international atmosphere. An unusual collaboration took place with the Asphalt Festival, as part of which the theater collective pièrre.vers staged “Schaf sehen”, a play that deals with the challenges of conspiracy theories – in Theater 34Ost and with the involvement of the audience.
In addition to the main performances, party guests also got their money’s worth: the “Safe Kollektiv” created an exuberant atmosphere in the lobby of the Ruby Luna Hotel, and Arthur Honegger’s “King David” was staged as a play with musical accompaniment from the Düsseldorf Chamber Choir in the Johanneskirche. Modern and classical performances such as those by the “Seed” collective from London, the LBT Piano Trio and the “Klangkollektiv Düsseldorf” merged music and performance and gave the festival its special diversity. A new production of “Markus-Passion” and the dystopian acrobatic show “Urbanatix: Essence” in the theater tent were equally impressive.
To round things off, the London band “Nubiyan Twist” got the audience in the theater tent moving with an energetic show and ensured a rousing end to the festival.
Our large white theater tent is located on Burgplatz, directly on the Rhine. It is the heart of the festival. Dance, new circus, theater and music from all over the world take place here in front of 900 visitors; this is where the lifeblood of the festival pulsates. The entire 70-strong festival team works from here. Technicians and hands, riggers, lighting and sound technicians. Ticketing, production, the canteen crew with a large number of Düsseldorf volunteers. The tent is a meeting place for the audience, artists and staff. Everyone involved in the festival lives and works here for six weeks in a specially built container village. Our red retro bar is also our foyer, where the audience and sponsors meet for a drink before and after the performances.
In addition to the large international stage in the Theaterzelt, the Düsseldorf Festival also extends far into the city every year, filling smaller spaces with music, some of which are inaccessible to the cultural scene.
The two artistic directors Christiane Oxenfort and Andreas Dahmen have been responsible for the program since the festival was founded in 1991 and have also been responsible for the entire management as managing partners of the non-profit Festival GmbH for 29 years. Musicians by training and internationally successful with their ViF flute quartet, they are committed to experimentation and openness to new trends while maintaining a high artistic standard.
Oxenfort and Dahmen are supported all year round by a team of permanent and freelance employees, each of whom is in charge of a specific area: Assistant to the artistic director/sponsorship (Kathrin Sonnenschein), festival office (Lucy Gemmeke), ticketing (Timo Kasper), press relations and marketing (Tossia Corman), technology (Hans-Jürgen Müller), production/organization (Armin Leoni & Theresa Heussen).
During the festival period, the team grows to up to 70 employees.
The Düsseldorf Festival has two central bodies: the Board of Trustees and the Advisory Board. The Advisory Board is a voluntarily elected supervisory body that monitors and supports the festival’s activities. It consists of committed members who have voluntarily decided to critically accompany the work of the festival and promote its further development.
The Board of Trustees of the Düsseldorf Festival is a supportive and advisory body. This body brings together important partners and sponsors of the festival from business, politics and social life in the state capital Düsseldorf. The members of the Board of Trustees make a significant contribution to the strategic direction and sustainable promotion of the festival. With their expertise and their network, they support the festival both financially and ideally, which makes the broad and diverse program possible in the first place.
