Westwind Festival

  • Sat 01.06.24 – Sat 08.06.24
Personen in einem futuristischen Umfeld mit silbern Schläuchen und weißen Fliesen
Photo: Birgit Hupfeld
Ein Tisch mit menschlichen Beinen
Photo: Reinout Hiel
Tanzende personen, eine davon trägt einen riesigen Stern auf dem Kopf
Photo: Birgit Hupfeld
Tanzende Kinder in einer Gruppe
Photo: René Löffler
Westwind Festival

From 01. – 08. June, the Westwind Festival presents the ten most noteworthy children's and youth theatre works from all over North Rhine-Westphalia. Young audiences can look forward to engaging with the featured performances and discovering the valuable contributions theatre makes to an open society and our future, while enjoying moments of pure fun and lightheartedness and making new friends along the way. The festival’s host venues are the Maschinenhaus Essen, the Schauspiel Essen, and PACT Zollverein. The NRW competition is complemented by international guest performances, a vibrant festival campus offering interactive play activities, and workshops, as well as an extensive program of supporting events.

Program at PACT

Tanzende Personen mit einem riesigen Stern auf dem Kopf
Photo: Birgit Hupfeld

Junges Schauspielhaus Bochum ›Es liegt was in der Luft‹

  • Sun. 02.06.24 15 h
  • Mon. 03.06.24 10 h

Let’s discover what both surrounds and fills us all. Everything is made of air – including us. In a very special garden, we accompany the guardians of the air at work, discovering astonishing beings and plants, diving with them into the sea, and soaring into the skies. So, take a deep breath and prepare to be amazed by breathtaking objects that will let you see air with different eyes.
Tanzende Kinder
Photo: René Löffler

Janne Gregor ›Ich kann´s nicht lassen‹

  • Tue. 04.06.24 09:30 h
  • Tue. 04.06.24 11 h
  • Tue. 04.06.24 15 h

Participation is the driving force behind the performance ›Ich kann’s nicht lassen‹. Children and adults join four dancers on stage to collectively delve into the dance style Krump and actively shape the unfolding of the piece. Together, they engage in a choreographic game developed by Janne Gregor in collaboration with Krump professionals and multiple Berlin school classes.
Ein Tisch mit menschlichen Beinen
Photo: Reinout Hiel

Miet Warlop ›After All Springville: Disasters and Amusement Parks‹

  • Wed. 05.06.24 19 h
  • Thu. 06.06.24 17 h

An explosive narrative unfolds around a colorful-smoking cardboard house, its inhabitants and the neighborhood: an elegant walking table in high heels, a man who just wants to take out the rubbish, a frustrated fuse box and a very long pair of pants play out big and small dramas with varying degrees of potential for disaster.
More Events
  • Mon 16.06.25 18 h – 19:30 h
  • Mon 30.06.25 18 h – 19:30 h
  • Mon 14.07.25 18 h – 19:30 h
A drawing created with the help of artificial intelligence. A group of people can be seen singing together from the front. The people are in a good mood and have a smile on their lips as they sing. The illustration is in darker, earthy pastel tones.
WerkStadt Music Assembly

Neighborhood singing
Sing with us!

- - -
  • Sat 23.08.25 20 h
  • Sun 24.08.25 20 h
  • Tue 26.08.25 20 h
Zwei nackte Menschen, die mit Händen und Füßen auf einem Stein stehen. Sie schauen sich nicht an, sondern blicken nach unten. Hinter ihnen ein Felsenlandschaft.
Dance Music

Nina Laisné, François Chaignaud, Nadia Larcher
Último Helecho

Tickets
German premiere
  • Fri 29.08.25 20 h
  • Sat 30.08.25 20 h
  • Sun 31.08.25 18 h
A photo of Mohamed Toukabri. He is lying on a floor covered in graffiti. He is wearing a red turtleneck sweater and black trousers and is stretching his right arm out to the side. He forms a C with his left hand and holds it in front of his left eye.
Dance

Mohamed Toukabri
Everybody-knows-what-tomorrow-brings-and-we-all-know-what-happened-yesterday

Tickets
German premiere
Public Programme