Beethovenfest Bonn

Beethovenfest Bonn is the annual festival in honour of Ludwig van Beethoven, held in the city where he was born. It runs for around a month in late summer, with orchestral concerts, chamber music, recitals, dance and music theatre, talks and free events, in concert halls, churches, castles and other venues across Bonn and the Rhein-Sieg district. For the Beethoven Year 2027 it is working with the Beethoven Orchester Bonn and the Beethoven-Haus Bonn.

The main venue is the Beethovenhalle, a 1956 concert hall on the banks of the Rhine in the city centre. After almost ten years of heritage-led renovation it reopened in December 2025, and in 2026 it became the festival's main venue again: the 2026 edition, from 3 September to 3 October 2026, offered around 80 concert events with almost 40,000 tickets, in the Beethovenhalle and 25 other venues. Other regular venues include Opera Bonn, on the Rhine by the Kennedy Bridge, and the Beethoven-Haus on Bonngasse, which combines Beethoven's birth house museum with a chamber music hall.

This edition

Beethovenfest Bonn 2027 runs from Thursday 2 September to Saturday 2 October 2027, in the year marking the 200th anniversary of Beethoven's death. It follows a separate spring festival, the Beethoven Spring (Beethoven Frühling), from 18 March to 4 April 2027. The full Beethovenfest 2027 programme had not been published when this page was checked; in 2026 the programme came out on 30 April and tickets went on sale on 1 May 2026.

• The Beethovenhalle: the reopened 1956 hall on the Rhine is the festival's main venue, with its Great Hall, Studio and seminar rooms.
• Beethoven-Haus Bonn: Beethoven's birth house at Bonngasse 20, with the museum, research archive and a chamber music hall used for festival concerts.
• Beethoven27 cycle: pianist Kit Armstrong and conductor Jan Caeyers complete their nine-part Beethoven27 concert cycle with Le Concert Olympique in September 2027.
• Free events: in 2026 the festival held a large open-air concert on the Markt with Bonn musicians and ran a Festival Salon in the Beethovenhalle's South Foyer, open without a concert ticket.
• Relaxed performances: short, low-stimulus concerts in the Beethovenhalle where you can move around and sound is welcome, offered in 2026.

• Bonn city centre: the Beethovenhalle, Opera Bonn, the Beethoven-Haus and the Markt are all central and close together; the Beethovenhalle is about a 15-minute walk from Bonn Hauptbahnhof.
• Bad Godesberg: the City of Bonn says it is a few minutes from the main station by city or regional train, with a villa quarter where many embassies were based in Bonn's years as the federal capital.
• Cologne: a bigger choice of hotels, linked to Bonn by S-Bahn and regional trains, and the arrival point for Eurostar connections from London. See our Cologne guide.

By air: Cologne Bonn Airport (CGN), between Cologne and Bonn, is the nearest airport; the City of Bonn says you can be in the city centre in around 30 minutes. The SB60 airport express bus runs between Bonn Hauptbahnhof (bus station) and the terminal. Because of the closure of Bonn's Nordbrücke to heavy vehicles, it currently runs via the Kennedybrücke without intermediate stops towards the airport, and its Beethovenhalle stop is not served; towards Bonn you can also get off at Brüdergasse/Bertha-von-Suttner-Platz or Markt, near the Beethovenhalle and the Beethoven-Haus. The airport also has its own ICE station and S-Bahn links. Düsseldorf Airport (DUS) and Frankfurt Airport (FRA) are less than two hours from Bonn by public transport, according to the city. Check your airline for direct routes from the UK.

By train from the UK: Eurostar sells London to Cologne as one booking, changing at Brussels-Midi/Zuid without switching stations, in just over 5 hours. From Cologne, S-Bahn and regional trains continue to Bonn.

By rail in Germany: ICE trains serve Bonn Hauptbahnhof, and many more stop at Siegburg/Bonn on the Frankfurt–Cologne high-speed line, from where light rail reaches central Bonn in about 20 minutes.

Getting to the venues: from Bonn Hauptbahnhof the Beethovenhalle is about a 15-minute walk, or take trams 61, 62 or 66 or buses 606–609 to Bertha-von-Suttner-Platz, a few minutes' walk away. The festival says event tickets are valid on public transport across the whole VRS network from four hours before the event until 03:00; print-at-home and e-tickets must first be activated as a VRS ticket.

We don't have a Bonn guide yet; see our Germany guide and our Cologne guide.

Flight delayed or cancelled on the way? See our Travel Disruption guide for your rights.

Most Beethovenfest events are ticketed. Tickets for the September 2027 festival weren't on sale when this page was checked; in 2026, sales for the main festival opened on 1 May 2026 at 10:00, after the programme was published. Tickets are sold on the festival's Programme & Tickets pages, on the ticket hotline +49 228 2010344 (Monday and Wednesday to Friday, 10:00–14:00), at pre-sale points in Bonn and Meckenheim, and at venue box offices from 60 minutes before each concert.

A 50% concession applies to children from three (under-threes go free), pupils, students and volunteers up to 30, unemployed people, Bonn-Ausweis holders and disabled people. Under-30 pupils and students can also buy remaining tickets for €10 at the box office (bee.spontan). Groups of ten or more get a discount. Tickets can't be returned or exchanged, and programmes, casts, dates and venues may change. Spring festival tickets (18 March to 4 April 2027) have been on sale since 30 October 2026.

• Timing: the festival runs for a month, so check the programme when it is published and plan your stay around the concerts you want; introductory talks often take place at the venue before or after a concert.
• Late arrival: if you arrive late, speak to the service staff; the festival tries to admit latecomers but doesn't guarantee it.
• Payment: the web shop takes credit card, PayPal and Klarna; box offices take cash or card. Posting tickets costs €3.
• Weather: check the Deutscher Wetterdienst forecast for Cologne/Bonn before outdoor events.
• Combine with a tour: during the festival, Bonn-Information offers themed tours about Beethoven and of concert venues including the Beethovenhalle (+49 228 775000).
• Local food: the City of Bonn's visitor magazine calls Rievkooche, crispy potato pancakes, a firm part of Rhineland cuisine, often eaten with a freshly poured Kölsch beer.

The festival publishes accessibility details for each venue (access, doors, ramps, lifts, induction loops and assistance dogs) on its accessibility page. Wheelchair spaces are available in all venues except a few historic ones such as Burg Adendorf and Burg Namedy, and are booked through any sales channel except the web shop, or by email to tickets@beethovenfest.de. In the Beethovenhalle, step-free entry is via the main or south entrance; the Great Hall is step-free only in the ground-floor stalls, with no lift to the gallery, and accessible toilets are on the ground floor and in the south foyer basement. At Opera Bonn, only entrance B is step-free, with wheelchair spaces in rows 20 and 21. Disabled visitors get 50% off, and an accompanying person with a “B” pass goes free. In 2026 the festival also offered relaxed performances and events with German Sign Language. Questions: tickets@beethovenfest.de or +49 228 2010344.

The FCDO's Germany travel advice does not advise against travel to any part of Germany. It warns that terrorist attacks could be indiscriminate and could target crowded places, public gatherings and cultural events, and advises sensible precautions against pickpocketing and bag-snatching, especially at airports, railway stations and in crowds. UK passports must have been issued less than 10 years before you arrive and be valid for at least 3 months after you leave the Schengen area.

• Before you go, read the UK government's FCDO travel advice for Germany (entry requirements, safety and local laws).
• Flight delayed or cancelled on the way? See our Travel Disruption guide for your rights and live alerts.