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What is the NEXT LEVEL Festival?

The NEXT LEVEL Festival showcases video games, digital art, interactive experiences, and theater with technology. It’s all about how we play, create, and experience things together today.

When and where does the event take place?

From November 13 to 16, 2025 in Dortmund. Various locations in the city are part of the festival. These include the Academy for Theatre and Digitality, the Digital Workbench, the Schauspiel Dortmund, the Project Storage, the Dortmunder U, the Co-production Laboratory, and the Künstler*innenhaus Dortmund.

What happens at the festival?

There are exhibitions, theater and dance performances, talks on digital topics, and many workshops. Visitors* are welcome to participate, discover, and ask questions. For example, there is a large media exhibition in the Künstler*innenhaus, games by independent developers* can be played in the Digital Workbench even before they are released, and technology and theater meet in the Academy for Theatre and Digitality.

What is it about this time?

The motto is “TRANSmission.” It asks how digital games are changing, how they connect people, how technology becomes art, and how community is created.

For whom?

For everyone – whether young or old, whether with a lot or little experience with digital media. Anyone who is curious about what digital experiences can look like is in the right place.

Why participate?

At this festival, you can get to know new forms of games and art. You can see how technology makes creativity, how people come together, and what digital culture means today.

What should you bring?

An open mind, a desire for new things, and a willingness to be active yourself. Just watching is also possible, but participating is usually more fun.