• In the coming year, there will be some changes in terms of staffing, venues and event formats.
• The festival breaks new ground in 2026. The change of location to Theater Aachen will be accompanied by an expansion of the venue "out into the city".
• Through new offers and the establishment of a "schrit_tmacher community", the urban society will be integrated even more into the festival.

Every year between Carnival and Easter, schrit_tmacher invites you to experience contemporary dance with a wide variety of productions from all over the world. The 31st edition of the dance festival will take place in 2026. Since the first festival in 1993 at the Ludwig Forum Aachen, schrit_tmacher has become a cross-border dance and culture festival of international standing with performances, films, workshops and related projects. With venues in Aachen, Heerlen, Kerkrade, Eupen and Sittard, there is the innovative and unique situation of a large festival taking place simultaneously in three countries.

"The schrit_tmacher festival triggers enthusiasm in the city and in the Euregio. The festival has a special significance, with many cooperation partners in Aachen and across the borders. It's fantastic how schritt_macher lives this Euregional idea so well and translates it into culture and movement, bringing people together. It's infectious," says Heinrich Brötz, Alderman for Education, Youth and Culture of the City of Aachen.

New management, new concepts and formats

The Euregional and international audience shuttles enthusiastically between all the venues. There will be some changes in the coming year, both in terms of staffing, venues and event formats. For the 31st edition, Yvonne Eibig will be responsible for the management of the festival. Eibig is very familiar with the national and international dance scene and is a board member and project manager of the ARTbewegt dance network.

Cooperation between the participating cities is being intensified at all levels. Heinrich Brötz announces that a new cooperation agreement between Aachen, Heerlen and Eupen will be developed in the coming weeks, new elements will be added to the program and a new focus will be placed on the social component. "We want people to be able to meet and exchange ideas. Regardless of the individual performances," says Brötz.

Jordy Clemens, Heerlen's alderman for education, culture and urban development, is also delighted with the Euregional collaboration. "I am proud of what is happening on the stages, but also in the halls and the cities, in the cooperation and the large network between festival, theaters and people. We are ready to celebrate together, in Aachen, Eupen and Heerlen."

Yvonne Eibig emphasizes that a functioning team is needed to ensure that everything comes together in such a way that a proper celebration can take place in spring - a big party is being planned for the start of the festival. The cooperation between the festival management, the event management of the City of Aachen's cultural department and the external partners at schrit_tmacher is a real asset. "Everything is based on this. We're building on a great festival that doesn't exist a second time. We are developing things further, but breaking new ground doesn't mean abandoning everything old."

Playground extension "out into the city"

One innovation is the move from the old Stahlbau Strang factory location to the stage of the main theater in Aachen. "The potential of this should not be underestimated," says Eibig. The result is a complete expansion of the venue. "We go out into the city, we seek a direct exchange with urban society through great dance." The venues are deliberately chosen so that the location and performance mutually enrich each other: in the Ludwig Forum, the Depot Talstraße and the Citykirche St. Nikolaus, among others. The companies can also be experienced in public spaces in planned interventions that invite people to join in.

Building a "schrit_tmacher community"

Yvonne Eibig and her team take the social component, the exchange of ideas, one step further. Outside of the classic performance times and the already established pre- and post-performance discussions, schrit_tmacher 2026 offers spaces for exchange. "We will meet several times during the festival at different times, for example in Café Vers at the Barockfabrik, to exchange ideas with the team, the companies and other audience members," says Eibig, giving a foretaste of the community concept.

Urban society is to be further integrated into the festival with the establishment of a "schrit_tmacher community". "We don't just want to make dance an experience, we want to encourage people to get closer, take a look behind the scenes and get involved." Interested parties can contact us informally at schrittmacher@mail.aachen.de to find out more. There will be an initial kick-off meeting - also spontaneously, without registration - on Friday, November 7, at 5 p.m. in Café Vers.

New concepts in Heerlen and Eupen

The concepts will also be developed and expanded in Heerlen and Eupen. The focus here is on cross-border talent development. Successfully established under the title "GENERATION2", "Young Talent" and "Young Audience" will shed light on the world of experience and life of this young target group, offer them a stage and deepen their knowledge in workshops. "Cooperation across borders is something fantastic. We look forward to further intensifying this collaboration, even beyond the actual festival," says Janine Dijkmeijer, Director of Parkstad Limburg Theater and Festival Director on the Dutch side. In addition to dance, there will also be space for visual art in Heerlen - drawings, paintings, installations and films.

Judith Thelen, program curator for theater, dance and music at the Chudoschnik Sunergia association and festival director in Eupen, is delighted that schrit_tmacher is "opening the way to Belgium. We are proud to be part of it." In Belgium, too, young, local talent is included and given the chance to be part of an internationally renowned festival. Young artists go on tour throughout the Euregio. In Eupen, too, the aim is to reach out to and integrate the audience and urban society even further.

In all three countries, the topic of "Dance and Health" is on the program as a further cross-border component. Scientific studies show that music and movement are very important for human well-being. At schrit_tmacher 2026, there will be the opportunity to be part of the project on dance and health free of charge at various locations and dates.