You can hear about Ruhr-in-Love a hundred times, but nothing prepares you for that first time in the crowd. It’s all about passion – 30 stages, most of them handcrafted by local crews who live and breathe the electronic music scene. Safe to say that Ruhr-in-Love 2025 was not just another festival – it was a full-blown reunion of Germany’s rave family.
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As the beating heart of the Ruhr area’s electronic underground, Ruhr-in-Love united 30,000 ravers, 300+ artists, and 30 different stages – mostly hosted by passionate local crews. While the genres were as diverse as the crowd – from techno and trance to house and drum & bass – the harder styles have been the ones that kept pulling gravity our way, of course!
The way to Ruhr-in-Love 2025
Getting to Ruhr-in-Love was super easy thanks to its solid transit connections. The festival ticket included free regional transport within the VRR area – therefore, going by train was the way to go for anyone not coming from too far away. You just had to ride to Oberhausen main station, then hop on one of the free shuttle buses straight to OLGA Park.
Furthermore, party buses organized by HardTours, Feierreisen, and Partybusse.de rolled in from all over the nation, too, filled with whole squads of rave-hungry visitors.
Parking or dropping off your friends by car directly at the location was not allowed – but there was an official parking area available at the Westfield Centro, just a short walk away from the festival grounds.
Speaking of walking, going by foot from nearby stations like Oberhausen-Sterkrade or Osterfeld was also totally doable in less than 15 minutes.
Drink and food prices that didn’t kill the vibe
Prices at Ruhr-in-Love 2025 stayed quite fair for a festival of this scale. All drinks and food were paid for using cashless wristbands, which you could top up at booths or via the app.
Water was around 4.50 €, while 0.5l of beer ran at about 6 €. Basic meals were reasonably priced – Bratwurst went for 6.50 €, steak came in at 8.50 €. Cocktails or specialty drinks? Between 10 € and 12.50 €.
Free water refill spots near the medical tents made it easy to stay cool in the heat without breaking the bank.
Klaudia Gawlas and Friends Stage – hypnotic journeys and live emotion
DJ contest winner Ties van Dun opened the stage with a warm, welcoming set – laying down a smooth, melodic baseline that eased us into the vibe.
Later on, Kalte Liebe delivered a stunning live performance full of haunting vocals and atmospheric tension – an art-driven, emotionally loaded experience, offering a darker counterpoint to the high-BPM action going on at other stages.
At 05:30 p.m., the namesake of the stage, Klaudia Gawlas, took over with her trademark fusion of hypnotic techno and euphoric trance. The crowd was locked in, hands up, cascading build-ups washed across the crowd. Shifting between trance anthems and techno darkness, she created a real synth-wave rollercoaster – and that perfect balance of tension and release. Five-star performance, rave perfection!
A.L.E.X. Events, 100% Hardcore & Masters of Noise pres. Hardcore Gladiators – kick warfare in full force
Hosted by A.L.E.X. Events, 100% Hardcore & Masters of Noise, the Hardcore Gladiators stage kicked things off with deep techno-hardcore vibes – but the energy heated up soon, simmering into a full-fledged hardcore invasion.
Jeypieh cracked the calm wide open around 02:30 p.m. with a frenchcore storm – raw kicks met twisted basslines, breaking the midday lull.
Right after, Thorax cranked out pure hardcore anthems, pulsing straight through the crowd like an adrenaline shot to the neck.
Then came the OG energy: DJ Ron and MC Ike brought pounding kicks and commanding mic work – pure hardcore spirit.
At this stage, no one cared about comfort. It was a punch to the ribs – just volume, passion, and 100% for the heads who live for the harder, faster, louder side of life.
DEQUINOX stage – hardcore from the underground
Tucked deep in the shaded grove, the DEQUINOX stage felt like a black hole of sound, where the artists leaned into industrial, techno-hybrid hardcore vibes with warped, atmospheric breaks. This wasn’t a stage you stumbled upon – it found you.
The Executer unleashed dark, relentless kicks and haunting melodies in the early afternoon, dragging the crowd more and more into the depths of hardcore fury with each thunderous drop.
Later, DEQUINOX label founder D-Ceptor himself took the reins and kept the pressure on. With seamless mixing and pure label-driven aggression, he had the floor in full-on battle mode – no one stood still, no one held back.
As the sun slowly descended, Mr. Bassmeister delivered his high-octane frenchcore set. Pounding beats, shaking ground, no mercy.
The DEQUINOX stage was not about crowd size – it was about depth and immersion. While the rest of the festival basked in the sun, this floor of Ruhr-in-Love reminded us why we fell for the underground shadows!
Center-Stage – big names, bigger energy
The Center-Stage was the epicenter of Ruhr-in-Love, stacked with heavy names and built for those unforgettable hands-in-the-air moments.
Gestört aber Geil dropped a feel-good set packed with deep house classics and emotional favorites, lighting up the crowd with pure vibes.
Then Neelix took the stage, blending dreamy melodies with punchy, hypnotic drops that sent the crowd spiraling into euphoria. It was that kind of set where you lose track of time – just motion, light, and sound.
When Harris & Ford stepped up, they left no prisoners. Explosive hard dance drops and massive remix energy unleashed a storm that had the entire crowd jumping as one. Peak-time madness. Non-stop madness for the whole hour of their set!
The Center-Stage trajectory was textbook: warmth at the start, festival unity in the middle, and night-time intensity by the end. Big tracks, big feelings, big crowd reactions.
Entenrennen – the charming festival duck race
Only at Ruhr-in-Love would you stumble upon a full-blown rubber duck invasion racing downstream – all part of the special “Entenrennen” (duck race) charity event. Festival-goers embraced it: kids shouting numbers, punters cheering their adopted ducks, and random party people stopping mid-dance to watch the flood of tiny yellow racers float by.
It wasn’t just cute – it sparked smiles, collective cheering, and a rare moment of festival unity beyond the beats. Pure Ruhr-style charm amidst the darkness and decibels.
Final words
Ruhr-in-Love built something unforgettable – it was a full-spectrum ride through the electronic music styles:
- Deep trance-techno with Klaudia Gawlas
- Hardcore brutality presented by A.L.E.X. Events, 100% Hardcore & Masters of Noise
- Industrial dark depth at DEQUINOX
- Festival-wide anthems at the Center-Stage
- The unexpected warmth of the duck race
Whether you came for kicks, melodies, or the quacky spectacle, Ruhr-in-Love delivered on all fronts. Hardstyle family, you know the code: stay real, stay loud, and always leave space for the unexpected.
However, absolutely expected is that tickets for Ruhr-in-Love 2026 are available now at:
https://www.ruhr-in-love.de/tickets
Don’t miss your chance to join next year’s ultimate electronic music family festival!