Would you like access to this unique musical walk?
Fancy a musical walk through Rotterdam? Between May 17 and 26, 2024, O. Festival and Rotterdam Roof Days organizes Over the Bogen: a walking concert where you travel 2 kilometers across the roof of the monumental Hofbogen in Rotterdam.
This is your very first and very last chance to take a walk on this roof. During this musical walk, ambient sound and spoken text are combined with music. The stories tell you about the rich past of the train connection that runs here, but also what this object now means for the neighbourhood and the expectations surrounding the realization of the future Dakpark Hofbogen.
The collected stories and live sounds from the city are interwoven by Strijbos & Rijswijk with new music and live singing. You will soon enter a special acoustic world as you walk over the arches and literally and figuratively follow the traces of history to the present and future.
The route from Hofplein to the highway has not been opened to the public since the last trains crossed the Hofbogen. Over de Bogen can be visited in two ways between May 17 and 26.
In the first and last weekend you can experience special live performances of the composition in the form of a walking concert using headphones, in which the composition will continually change in interaction with the environment.
In addition, as a visitor you can walk across the Hofbogen every day and listen to the music via installations along the route. These special sound screens that you encounter here only allow the music to be heard by passers-by.
Ticket sales for both walks start on April 4 via O.'s website, the live performance can also be visited with a day ticket for O.
A special city park will be built on the Hofbogen railway viaduct. Where the Hofplein line used to run between Rotterdam and The Hague, you will soon be able to walk among the tops of the trees. With a length of 2 kilometers, the park will be the longest roof park in the Netherlands. Construction of the park will start in 2025 and the black roof will have been changed into a green carpet by the end of 2027.
Two Rotterdam festivals are working together to open this iconic roof. O. is an international festival for opera, music and theater with a programme full of surprises: from international top to typical Rotterdam and adventurous location projects. From May 16 to 26 you will experience more than 60 performances and concerts at 30 different locations in Rotterdam (May 16 to 26). Based on the universal power of the singing voice, O. tells current and urgent stories from the city and the world, brings together different disciplines and goes on an adventure with artists, makers and audiences.
During the 'Rotterdam Roof Days', doors that normally remain closed are opened and the 'roof landscape' of Rotterdam is accessible (24 to 26 May). In addition to great views, you will find an extensive festival programme on dozens of roofs in the city with knowledge about the city and its buildings, music, theater, sports, food, drinks, parties and more. The festival, known for the Rotterdam Rooftop Walk, among other things, shows how we can use the more than 18 km2 of space on Rotterdam roofs in creative ways for a sustainable, vibrant and healthy city.