Get out there
What's on
Markets, concerts, festivals, outdoor fitness and free events happening in Berlin. Updated every Tuesday alongside the new episode.
Pulp — Tempodrom ⭐
Jarvis Cocker's first Germany dates since the 90s. Two nights only. If you know "Common People" you know why this matters; if you don't, find out before you go.
🚇 S Anhalter Bahnhof (S1), 5 min walk
Sonic Pluriverse — HKW ⭐
Gnawa Parade through the HKW grounds 5–7:15pm (free), followed by a full concert with Vieux Farka Touré (€24, 7:30pm), closing with saHHar DJ set (free, 9–11pm). Three events in one evening, two of them free.
🚇 Bus 100 Haus der Kulturen der Welt or S Bellevue, 10 min walk
MISS READ: Berlin Art Book Fair — silent green ⭐
235 independent publishers and artists from 46 countries in the former crematorium in Wedding. One of the more interesting annual events in the city's art calendar. Free to browse.
🚇 U6 Seestraße, 8 min walk east
Family Reunion / 20 Years of J.A.W ⭐
Theo Parrish, Floating Points, Mark Ernestus, Marcellus Pittman, Palms Trax. Four nights celebrating 20 years of J.A.W. Venue TBA — check their channels. One of the most significant club weekenders Berlin sees in a year.
🚇 Venue to be confirmed
spreeklänge — Musical Path Along the Spree ⭐
11 live music commissions placed at specific points along a 5km stretch of the Spree — you walk the route and encounter each piece as part of the landscape. One of those Berlin ideas that works better in practice than on paper.
🚇 S Charlottenburg (S3/S5/S7), route starts nearby
Antonina Nowacka + Drew McDowall & Pedro Maia A/V — silent green
Polish vocalist Nowacka and Scottish composer McDowall (Coil) with a live audiovisual set by Pedro Maia in the domed hall. Glacial, immersive — the right way to open a festival.
🚇 U6 Seestraße, 8 min walk east
UNCLOUDED: Sound Metaphors + Circadian — Neue Nationalgalerie
Live sound programme on the terrace of the Neue Nationalgalerie. Free, outdoors — one of the better free evening options this week.
🚇 U2 Potsdamer Platz or S Potsdamer Platz, 5 min walk
Orchestral Sessions: Giacinto Scelsi & Avi Caspi — Halle am Berghain
Works by Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi and Israeli composer Avi Caspi performed in Berghain's main hall. The acoustics were never designed for this — that's exactly what makes it interesting.
🚇 S Ostbahnhof, 10 min walk south
Panda Bear & Sonic Boom — Listening + Q&A + Signing — Rough Trade Berlin
In-store listening session for the new Panda Bear and Sonic Boom record, followed by Q&A and signing. The kind of event that record shops exist to host.
🚇 U1/U3 Görlitzer Bahnhof, 5 min walk
hackedepicciotto: Sonic Morgue — silent green ⭐
Alexander Hacke (Einstürzende Neubauten) and Danielle de Picciotto in the domed hall of the former Wedding crematorium. Industrial sound and visual art in a setting that earns it.
🚇 U6 Seestraße, 8 min walk east
Alva Noto — HYBR:ID UNI PARA — ZENNER ⭐
Carsten Nicolai's audiovisual performance as Alva Noto closes the Avant Art Festival at ZENNER by the river. One of the most significant electronic music artists working today.
🚇 S Treptower Park, 10 min walk
Crushed Now // Distributed Presence — Funkhaus
A 1930s Neo-Bechstein electric piano through a 3D audio system in one of Berlin's best sound environments. Unusual combination in an exceptional room.
🚇 S Ostkreuz then Tram 21 to Nalepastraße, or Bus 396
Safety Trance: DESTRUCCIÓN A/V + Evita Manji + Bungalovv — silent green
Audiovisual and live performance in the concrete hall. Harder edge than the Kuppelhalle events next door.
🚇 U6 Seestraße, 8 min walk east
Bruno Mars — Olympiastadion (4 nights)
Four nights at the Olympic Stadium. Even if you're not going, Charlottenburg will feel different this weekend. The U2 to Olympia-Stadion will be packed from Friday evening — plan accordingly.
🚇 U2 Olympia-Stadion, right outside
Kolonnadenbar Summer Music — Museumsinsel
Live music at the bar between the museums most evenings. Varies by night. Free and genuinely pleasant if you're passing through Mitte.
🚇 Bus 100/200 Lustgarten, 2 min walk
DEEPDIBE Pride Edition — Klunkerkranich
DJ Ipek, R-Zou and Lesch on the rooftop above Neukölln Arcaden. Good value, good location, Pride edition.
🚇 U7 Karl-Marx-Straße, directly below
Takkak Takkak / HULUBALANG / Evicshen / URIN — Panke
Four acts on the Avant Art programme at Panke in Wedding. Experimental end of the spectrum.
🚇 U6 Seestraße or Tram M13, 5 min walk
Tresor meets Hard Wax — Tresor
Tresor and Hard Wax — Berlin's two defining techno institutions in the same room. Sarah Farina, The Advent and more. The obvious pick for Friday night techno.
🚇 S+U Jannowitzbrücke, 5 min walk
HWXXNG / Women-Antennas — Panke
Korean ceremonial music feeding into techno. Free, 18+. One of the more interesting premise events of the week.
🚇 U6 Seestraße or Tram M13, 5 min walk
Mala Junta 8th Anniversary — RSO
Eight years of Mala Junta. CCL, OK Williams, Yazzus, D.Dan on the lineup.
🚇 Check RSO Berlin for address
Tresor invites Surgeon — Tresor
Birmingham techno legend Surgeon at Tresor. If you've been before, you know. If you haven't, start here.
🚇 S+U Jannowitzbrücke, 5 min walk
Gabriele Stötzer — Gropius Bau ⭐ (Ongoing to December)
The East German artist's largest institutional show — ~150 works: painting, photography, textile, Super 8 film. She spent a year in GDR prison for organising a petition against censorship. One of the most important Berlin shows this year.
🚇 S Anhalter Bahnhof (S1) or U2 Potsdamer Platz, 5 min walk
Mikołaj Sobczak 'Ancora' & Zoe Leonard — Capitain Petzel
Dual opening at one of Berlin's serious galleries on Karl-Marx-Allee. Free on opening evening.
🚇 U5 Weberwiese, 2 min walk
'Rauschen — Echoes of an Institution' — ifa galerie
New exhibition opening at the ifa galerie in Mitte. Free on opening night, runs through September.
🚇 Tram M1 Gipsstraße or S Hackescher Markt, 5 min walk
stay hungry — Project Space Festival Opening
Opening of the Project Space Festival on the Tempelhof airfield edge in Neukölln. Free and outdoor.
🚇 U8 Hermannstraße or U6 Tempelhof, 10 min walk
Open Haus: Lightscape — Doug Aitken — Reethaus
Doug Aitken's spatial light installation with sound by Soundwalk Collective. Check Reethaus for location details.
🚇 Check venue for directions
KVOST English Tour: 'Queere Kunst in der DDR?' — KVOST & Werkbundarchiv
English-language guided tour through queer art in the GDR. Last chance — final weekend of the programme.
🚇 U1 Görlitzer Bahnhof or U7 Möckernbrücke, check venue for exact address
Kyiv Biennial — KW Institute (Ongoing to Sep 13)
The Kyiv Biennial presented in exile at Berlin's KW Institute. Artists from Ukraine and beyond. One of the more politically charged shows in the city right now.
🚇 Tram M1 Gipsstraße or S Hackescher Markt, 5 min walk
Festa Junina — Arraiá da Bossa ⭐
Berlin's biggest Brazilian São João festival. Feijoada, acarajé, cachaça bar, forró and baile funk. Runs until 4am. If you've never been to a Festa Junina, this is the one to start with.
🚇 U1 Schlesisches Tor, 10 min walk south along the canal
Sunday Markets — Friedrichshagen & Ostbahnhof
Two good Sunday options: Flohmarkt Friedrichshagen is a proper neighbourhood flea market near the lake. Antikmarkt Ostbahnhof is smaller but more curated for genuine antiques.
🚇 Friedrichshagen: S3 to Friedrichshagen. Ostbahnhof: S3/S5/S7
Kyiv Biennial: Bashqort Songs — KW Institute
A curated listening session of Bashqort songs as part of the Kyiv Biennial programme. €5, 90 minutes.
🚇 Tram M1 Gipsstraße or S Hackescher Markt, 5 min walk
Cee Cee City Walk — Kottbusser Brücke
Guided neighbourhood walk from the Cee Cee newsletter. Free but RSVP required — check the Cee Cee website for the link.
🚇 U8 Kottbusser Tor, 5 min walk
Time to Listen: Multispecies Creativity in Music — ADK
Composers and ecologists discussing rivers, non-human listening and what it means to make music with other species. Two days, free. The kind of event Berlin does well.
🚇 S Bellevue or Bus 106 Akademie der Künste
Tag der Architektur 2026 — Open Studios Weekend ⭐
Buildings and studios normally closed open their doors — including sauerbruch hutton and Zvi Hecker. Special U-Bahn Museumsinsel tour also running. Download the programme at architecturedays.de.
🚇 Varies by building — download the programme first
1-Hour Reading Rave — The Offline Club Berlin
One hour, no phones, everyone reads, live music plays quietly in the background. The Offline Club runs these across European cities. Unusually pleasant.
🚇 U8 Rosenthaler Platz, 5 min walk
Pyramid Party x Sound Inkarnations — Hošek Contemporary
Day retreat on the cargo ship venue: bansuri, Chinese zither, modular synths, gong bath. Not for everyone — ideal for someone.
🚇 Check Hošek Contemporary for mooring location
Berlin Writers' Workshop Picnic — Tempelhofer Feld
Outdoor writing group on the old airfield. Free, bring something to write on. The best possible location for staring into the middle distance between sentences.
🚇 U6 Platz der Luftbrücke, 5 min walk
Qui a tué mon père — Schaubühne ⭐
Thomas Ostermeier directs Édouard Louis performing his own text about class, illness and his estranged father. 70 minutes, no interval. Louis performs it himself — not just a director's adaptation.
🚇 U7 Adenauer Platz or U1 Uhlandstraße, 5 min walk
BULLYACHE — 'A Good Man is Hard to Find' — Sophiensæle
Venice Biennale piece now in Berlin. Based on Flannery O'Connor's short story. €10–25.
🚇 S Hackescher Markt, 5 min walk
Bluets — Katie Mitchell — Schaubühne
Katie Mitchell's staging of Maggie Nelson's "Bluets" — the book on grief, desire and the colour blue. Worth going if you know either of them.
🚇 U7 Adenauer Platz or U1 Uhlandstraße, 5 min walk
TANZ MIT! — Potsdamer Platz
Public dance festival running through July. Outdoor performances and participatory events. Free.
🚇 S+U Potsdamer Platz (S1/S2/U2), right outside
Avant Art Afternoon: Rumiński / Kurek / Corazón de Robota — Richten25
Afternoon programme of experimental performance: synths in chocolate boxes, paper as performer. Free and 18+. Check Avant Art Festival for the Richten25 address.
🚇 Check Avant Art for venue details
The Bittersweet Swap — MITTE BÜRO
Clothes and objects exchange. Bring something, take something. Free but RSVP required.
🚇 U8 Rosenthaler Platz or Tram M8, 5 min walk
Outdoor Training — Parks & Fields
Calisthenics parks at Gleisdreieck, Tempelhof Field and Mauerpark are free and open daily. FitfamBerlin runs weekly outdoor running and HIIT groups (meetup.com). Urban Sports Club outdoor yoga across the city all week.
🚇 Varies by park
Freiluftkino Season — Multiple Venues
Outdoor cinema season in full swing. Neue Zukunft (Treptow), Rosengarten Kulturpavillon (Schöneberg) and Insel (Alt-Treptow) are the most characterful venues. Check each venue's programme — film starts at dusk.
🚇 Varies by venue