This festival began with the idea of combining the industrial heritage of the Ruhr region with an arts festival. This unique mix produced the RuhrTriennale, a cultural event which has become famous throughout Germany and beyond.

An arts festival at the heart of Europe
The RuhrTriennale takes place each year between mid-August and mid-October in the Ruhr region's exceptional monuments to the industrial age. The focus is on the "Creations" - productions which have strong connections with the locations where they are performed. Fine art, pop and classical music become associated with coking plants, and theatre and opera forge links with former machine halls.

The city of Bochum in the Ruhr region is around 680 years old, but the most interesting and defining era for the city was the age of industrialisation when its economic boom began with the discovery and mining of coal. There are countless monuments to this period of the city's history such as the Westphalian Industrial Museum and the Jahrhunderthalle (Century Hall).

Bochum in the Ruhr region has much more to offer visitors than just industrial monuments. One of the most famous and successful musicals in the world, which has been watched by ten million people, has been playing in Bochum for over 15 years.