Berlin loves to party. In summer there isn’t a single weekend
without some cultural or popular fest or other in one of the districts
or streets. It goes without saying that eating and drinking is always an
integral part of the entertainment.
In
June, for example, Köpenick has its Jazz in Town (street party in
the inner city) and in September the Whisky-Herbst. Kreuzberg
cooks and jazzes in June in the Bergmannstraße and organizes
Festliche Tage in the Viktoriapark (end of Aug-Sept.). Other fixed
values are, among other things, the Turmstraßenfest (end of Aug.)
or the Middle Aged Castle Party at the citadel of Spandau
(Sept.).
Nice and small is the Gauklerfest at the opera palace (Aug.) with
its art, cabaret and specialties of Berlin cooks. Mid August the Ku’damm
and Tauentzien transform into the Global City with stages and a
fashion show.
The Internationale Berliner Bierfestival during the second
weekend of August has become a popular attraction. In Friedrichshain the
sidewalk at the Karl-Marx-Allee, between the Frankfurter Tor and the
Strausberger Platz, becomes a 2 km long outdoors cafe, ‘the largest
terrace in the world’. Over 200 breweries from 75 different countries
offer over 1700 beer specialties.
In 2006, games from the WorldCup are being held in Berlin.
Information about the program on
www.btm.de/fifawm2006 .
Parades and processions:
Musicians, dancers and artists from about all countries turn the
Karneval der Kulturen during Pentecost into a spectacular festival.
The highlight of the four days lasting party is the parade on Sunday,
which draws over a million bystanders.
On Christopher Street Day (June) everything is brightly coloured.
Schaustelle Berlin has in a very short time grown into a populair
summer event: diverse guided tours and walking tours explore "das
neue Berlin" (new Berlin).
Twice a year tens of thousands of visitors flock to the "Long
Night of the Museums": in January on occasion of the Schauplatz:
Museum festival, and in August for the Berliner Museum Sommers.
Over 40 cultural institutions present special programmes until well
after midnight. The largest attraction in summer is the Love Parade,
a huge street parade attracting hundreds of thousands of techno fans
from all over the globe.
Winter sees a large number of Christmas Markets. The most
attractive one is on Richardplatz in Neukölln. The biggest Christmas
market is in Altstadt Spandau: a lot of junk in front of the Palast der
Republik, arts and crafts near Gedächtniskirche.
Berliner Festspiele GmbH (Scharperstrasse
24, 10719 Berlin,
tel. 25 48 90, fax 25 48 91 11)
www.berlinerfestspiele.de
organizes a.o.
the
festival for topical music Maerz-Musik (March), the Theatertreffen der deutschsprachigen Bühnen (Meeting
of German-speaking Theatre Companies) in May, the Theatertreffen der
Jugend (Meeting of Theatre Companies for Young People) in May/June, the JazzFest
in early November
the
concert series Musikfest Berlin and the theatre festival Spiel
Zeit Europa (Nov.-Feb.).
Berlin-Marathon,
September
Classic Open Air,
beginning of July
Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin/Berlinale
Internationales Literaturfestival,
www.literaturfestival.com
September
Kunstherbst Berlin,
four weeks in September
Lange Nacht der Museen
(museum night),
www.langenacht-der-museen.de , end of January and end of August
Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften
(science night),
www.langenachtderwissenschaften.de , June
Museuminselfestival
(festival on the Museuminsel),
www.museuminselfestival.info , May-September
Sechs-Tage-Rennen
(6 day bicycle racing), end of January
Tanz im August
(dance), www.tanzinaugust.de
Winterzauber’,
www.silvesterinberlin.de ,
between November and January
Young Euro Classic,
www.young-euro-classic.de
In August. Youth orchestras from all over Europe introduce their home
country.
Important fairs:
Internationale Grüne Woche,
agriculture and horticulture fair, halls at the radio tower, January
Internationale Tourismusbörse,
tourism fair, halls at the radio tower, March
ILA, international aviation and space travel exhibition
Berlin-Brandenburg, airport Schönefeld, May
PopKomm,
Europe’s largest professional fair for pop music and entertainment, side
program with numerous parties and a music festival, end of September
Art
Forum Berlin,
fair for comtemporary art, halls at the radio tower, September/October
Where?
ICC (Internationales Congress Centrum)
Main
entrance: Neue Kantstrasse
www.icc-berlin.de
Tel. 3 03 80
Max-Schmeling-Halle
Am Falkplatz, Prenzlauer Berg
www.max-schmeling-halle.de
Velodrom
Paul-Heyse-Strasse 26, Prenzlauer Berg, tel.
44 30
45,
www.velodrom.de
These two sports centres are also the venues for rock concerts or other
mega-events.
Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark
Cantianstraße 24, Prenzlauer Berg
Olympia-Stadion
Olympischer Platz, Charlottenburg
Entrance and cash desk: main entrance Osttor (eastern gate)
Tel
25
00 23 22,
www.olympiastadion-berlin.de
Daily excursion, with or without tour (except on events), summer (until
Oct. 31) 10am-7pm, winter 10am-4pm, closed during Christmas.
Games of the WorldCup will take place here (
www.btm.de/fifawm2006
).
Waldbühne
Glockenturmstrasse, Charlottenburg
tel
23 08 82 30
Berlin’s most attractive open air theatre with 20,000 seats (rock,
classical music, film).
Messe Berlin GmbH
Messedamm 22
14055 Berlin
Tel. 3 03 80, fax 30 38 23 25
Information on the various trade fairs.
www.messe-berlin.de
