Dear visitors,
Dear artists,
Dear friends of experimental sound art,

it is my great pleasure to welcome you to this year’s festival BLAUES RAUSCHEN 2026 in Duisburg.

For years, this special festival has stood for artistic curiosity, for the courageous exploration of boundaries, and for the fascinating connection between sound, space and technology. Once again this year, Duisburg will become a place where the international avant-garde and the local scene meet – inspiring, surprising and always challenging in the best possible way.

Special thanks go to our dedicated local partner, the Verein Lokal Harmonie. With great passion and a keen sense for contemporary cultural work, the association plays a key role in ensuring that the festival is not only a place for extraordinary artistic productions, but also remains deeply rooted in the city’s community. This collaboration impressively demonstrates how fruitful local networks are for the cultural development of our city.

I am equally delighted that WDR continues to participate as our recording partner. The documentary coverage and media distribution of the festival’s contributions make these innovative sound experiments accessible far beyond Duisburg and ensure they have a lasting presence in the cultural discourse.

My heartfelt thanks also go to the sponsors Neue Künste Ruhr and the Regionalverband Ruhr (RVR). Their support makes it possible to turn artistic visions into reality and to stage a festival of this high standard. In doing so, they make an important contribution to strengthening the independent arts scene and to raising the profile of the Ruhr metropolitan region as a major hub for contemporary art.

I warmly invite you all to immerse yourselves in the diverse soundscapes of this festival, to discover something new and to be captivated by the creative energy.

I wish the BLAUES RAUSCHEN 2026 festival an inspiring run and hope we all enjoy unforgettable artistic experiences.