Poetry International Festival Rotterdm - event information

HAPPENING 4 JUN 2026 | Poetry International Festival opens its 56th edition on Thursday 4 June with a new production by composer and writer Merlijn Twaalfhoven at Theater Zuidplein. Under the theme Word on the street, the festival celebrates the poetry of everyday life from 4 to 7 June.

The opening evening brings together the festival poets with Koor op Zuid, a neighbourhood choir from Rotterdam-Zuid. The performance is presented as a one-off musical and poetic production led by Twaalfhoven, who has created a new work specially for the festival.

Opening night on Zuid

Poetry International traditionally opens with a special production led by a guest director from another artistic discipline. For 2026, the festival works with Merlijn Twaalfhoven, known for large-scale and interdisciplinary music projects.

Inspired by Word on the street, Twaalfhoven brings the voices of the festival together with Koor op Zuid. Rather than using a professional ensemble, the performance works with voices from the city itself, adding a clear Rotterdam-Zuid layer to the opening.

Poetry meets city voices

Through improvisation, rhythm and collective singing, Twaalfhoven searches for beauty, order and connection in the noise of everyday life. That fits the theme rather neatly, because Rotterdam is never exactly short of street sound.

The opening programme offers visitors a first encounter with almost all festival poets in one evening. Theater Zuidplein lists the event for Thursday 4 June at 20:30.

Festival theme finds poetry outside

The 56th Poetry International Festival presents the poetry of daily life. The festival describes poetry as something you can find in speakers, on bridges, on walls and in the small moments that usually pass too quickly.

That makes Word on the street a fitting theme for Rotterdam. This is a city where language lives on façades, in trams, in markets, in music and in all the different ways people claim their corner of the street.

International poets gather in Rotterdam

The four-day festival brings poets, spoken word artists and performers from across the world to Rotterdam. The programme includes voices rooted in different languages, cultures and environments.

Names announced for the festival include Arlo Parks, Spinvis, Dominique De Groen, Aracelis Girmay, Nisrine Mbarki Ben Ayad, Zoë McWhinney, Hendri Yulius Wijaya and Marjolijn van Heemstra. The festival website also lists Radmila Petrović among the confirmed poets.

Arlo Parks joins programme

One of the more eye-catching names is Arlo Parks. The London singer-songwriter and poet moves between music and poetry, and her appearance fits the festival’s broader mix of spoken word, performance and musical language.

Spinvis also brings a strong Dutch music connection to the programme. For readers who think poetry only means someone whispering very seriously into a microphone, this line-up is a useful reminder that poetry has been hiding in songs all along. Sneaky little thing.

Festival has long Rotterdam roots

Poetry International has brought international poetry to Rotterdam since 1970. The foundation sees it as its task to introduce the power, quality and variety of poetry from the Netherlands and abroad to a broad and diverse audience.

Across more than five decades, the festival has helped make Rotterdam one of the key cities for international poetry. It continues to connect major names, new voices, spoken word, music and performance in a way that feels less like a literary niche and more like a living city conversation.

Tickets and programme

The opening evening takes place on Thursday 4 June at Theater Zuidplein. More information about the opening programme and the full festival line-up is available at poetry.nl/festival.

Poetry International Festival runs from Thursday 4 to Sunday 7 June 2026. 

How to get there

The opening evening takes place at Theater Zuidplein, next to metro and bus station Zuidplein. From Rotterdam Centraal, take metro line D or E towards Zuidplein. From there, it is a short walk to the theatre, right by Zuidplein shopping centre and close to Ahoy.