In fact, with its Ruhrfestspiele theatre festival, the district seat on the edge of the Ruhr Area has a lot to be proud of β it is one of the most important and traditional theatre festivals in the country and is even the oldest in Europe.
During the festival season from early May to mid-June of each year, Recklinghausen becomes a magnet for artists and theatre enthusiasts from around the world. Every year on 1 May, northern Ruhr Area locals and visitors come together at the Festspielhaus Festival Hall in the park to celebrate the start of the festival with a grand cultural celebration.
There the stage is set for great classics of dramatic literature, experimental theatre at the Fringe Festival, but above all for the masterful theatre of stars. Away from the film business, famous celebrities from Hollywood and Babelsberg come together on the stage in Recklinghausen.
Festival visitors come to experience the extraordinary: international stars such as Cate Blanchett, Kevin Spacey, John Malkovich and Juliette Binoche, as well as German film and television celebrities such as Iris Berben, Harald Schmidt, Heike Makatsch and Nina Hoss, dare to tread these hallowed marquees.
Enthusiasm for theatre productions and passion for the arts are prioritised more highly than chic evening dresses and fancy headwear. Spoken-word theatre of an exceptional standard is the flagship of the festival, with some 80, visitors a year, but the literature series and cabaret programme in particular have also established themselves. Every year the festival has a different theme, such as a specific playwright β Shakespeare, Goethe and Kleist, for example, have all been the focus of the festival.
