With bright colours they disappear behind the horizon at sunrise: the 14th Balloon Festival in Bonn's Rheinaue promises an atmospheric and packed programme. Weather permitting, more than 30 hot-air balloons will fly over Bonn towards the Vorgebirge, Siebengebirge and Rhine Valley this weekend. The traditional balloon glow, where the participating teams let their balloons glow in the twilight, will take place on Saturday.

Hiking enthusiasts can reach four summits in four days at the Gipfelfest in the Ahr Valley. This year's destinations are the Krausberg in Dernau (8 June), the Cäcilia Hut in Sinzig (9 June), the Bengener Heide in Bad Neuenahr (10 June) and the Arenberg castle ruins in Aremberg (11 June). There will also be a family-friendly version of each tour.

The indie bands umbra and strangers dopamine, the synth-pop duo Nilsonsoma and the singer Lili Mare will set the right mood for the opening of the Opernrasen. After that, it's up to the audience to rock the stage. On Saturday, this year's summer concert by the children's and youth choir of the Theater Bonn will take place, and on Sunday the participatory sound installation Espaces Cyclophones will entertain the visitors. On Monday, the Opera Lawn belongs to seniors who like to dance, and on Tuesday, the torch relay of the Special Olympics World Games will be a sporting event. All information on the programme can be found here.

Visitors to the market on Sunday can experience just how international and diverse Bonn is. Whether traditional Chinese dances, Iranian, Turkish and Kurdish choral singing or South American rhythms: The stage programme promises rousing sounds from all over the world. A wide variety of associations will inform visitors about their work at 35 information stands and enable a creative exchange.

With the Westwind, one of Germany's most renowned theatre festivals is coming back to Bonn after ten years. The host of the 39th theatre festival for young audiences is the Marabu Theatre. In addition to productions by theatre groups from NRW, the festival will be enriched by international guest performances and an extensive supporting programme. The theatre's own plays Die Konferenz der Vögel and ZusammenRaufen are not up for competition. An overview of all the plays and the supporting programme can be found here.

For seven days, composers of the Kiev avant-garde, a style that turned against the strict rules of Socialist Realism, will present their music in Bonn. The festival begins with chamber works, followed by string quartets, electro-acoustic music, vocal works and choral works. A documentary film about the composer Valentin Silvestrov, a pioneer of the Kiev avant-garde in the 1960s, will also be screened. Further information and tickets are available here.

When talented young poets stand in front of the microphone, it gets colourful, loud and above all entertaining in the Pantheon. The participants are between ten and 20 years old and want to wow the audience. The well-known poetry slammers Ella Anschein and Jana Goller will be the presenters. Tickets are available here.

Original text: Jasmin Kaub / Translation: Mareike Graepel