10 Best Festivals in Berlin

The Berlinale International Film Festival is an internationally renowned festival that showcases up to 400 films from across the world in several genres. It's part of the Big Three film festivals, which also includes the Venice Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival.

When you visit this festival, you may attend 9 different sections, each with its own perspective to showcase. The competition is among the most popular, offering the Golden Bear award for the top contender, but you'll also find sections for shorts, queer cinema, Berlinale classics and reflections on film as a medium. It's held in Potsdamer Platz, just west of the city centre.

The Long Night of Museums (Lange Nacht der Museen) is a special event in which several museums stay open late and let an entirely new audience explore their offerings. This event even features complimentary transport, allowing you to visit quite a few different museums throughout the event's duration.

Among the museums featured in the event, you'll find Anne Frank Zentrum, Berlinische Galerie, Computerspielemuseum, Samurai Museum Berlin and Zille Museum. In total, however, about 70 museums participate. These participating museums are mostly in the city centre, but several others can be found all over town.

At the Berlin Christmas markets (Berlin Weihnachtsmarkt), you can shop around for a variety of holiday-themed items, including treats, drinks, fresh food, Christmas gifts, decor and more. Quite a few different Christmas markets are held in the city every year, with most starting around mid-to-late November.

Local markets come in many shapes and sizes, with some having traditional market stalls and others boasting carnivals and rides. Visitors may also visit themed Christmas markets such as Scandinavian or Japanese markets. They're held in various spots across town, but most tend to be near the city centre.

Karneval der Kulturen is a special annual event that showcases a variety of cultures from around the world in a celebration of tolerance and multiculturalism. Festival attendees are wowed by the processions of dancers in elaborate traditional outfits, engaging theatrical performances and live music.

This is one of the largest festivals in the city, seeing well more than a million visitors every year and several thousand participants. It's centred around the Kreuzberg district, which is predominantly known for its arts scene.

Berlin Art Week is a celebration of contemporary art in which artists and art lovers from all over the world come together to share their favourite works. It lasts for 5 days each September and hosts a variety of talks and performances.

Art installations are the most popular aspect of the show, of course, with the artists themselves often in attendance and happy to answer questions about their work. Panel discussions featuring particularly famous artists and gallery owners are available too. Events are held in various exhibition spaces and galleries throughout the city.

Jazzfest Berlin hosts performances by artists and musicians from around the world, including big-name performers and up-and-coming musicians. While local musicians certainly have a presence, this festival is widely known for featuring top artists from America, which is where jazz originated.

Live performances are held all over the city and no single venue hosts the entire breadth of the festival. Street musicians and performers also tend to be more common throughout the several days of this event, which is held every November.

The Festival of Lights is a stunning annual display of lights throughout town showing off designs and artistry through projection and video art. During this festival every October, Berlin is transformed into a massive canvas in which light art is displayed across towering buildings and historical monuments, like the Brandenburg Gate.

A variety of artists from Berlin and around the world get together to determine what kind of artwork will be displayed throughout the festival, so you can expect something different every year. It takes place throughout the city.

Lollapalooza Berlin is the local version of the iconic music festival and offers much of the same experience you'd expect from any other Lollapalooza. The festival features multiple stages in the park as well as a central stage in a stadium for both indoor and outdoor performances.

Most of the musicians performing here are particularly popular in Germany, as you might expect, but larger names are common too. British and American musicians commonly perform at the festival as well. It's located in Olympiastadion and Olympiapark Berlin.

Fusion Festival is held annually and boasts a countercultural atmosphere, encouraging guests to display their own artwork and costumes while enjoying live musical performances. It's helpful to think of this as the European version of the popular American festival known as Burning Man.

While the live music at the festival is mostly electronic and dance, you may hear a bit of hip-hop and reggae as well. It's usually held at the end of June or the beginning of July, and it creates a temporary autonomous zone in Larz, which is a few miles north of Berlin proper.

The Christopher Street Day Parade is another name for the Berlin Pride celebration in which the LGBTQ+ community is celebrated through parades, colourful floats and live music. While there's plenty of fun to enjoy at this celebration, it always drives home the fact that LGBTQ+ people are still fighting for truly equal rights. The parade typically travels from Leipziger Strasse to Brandenburg Gate.

Berlin Pride goes by the Christopher Street Day Parade name in honour of the Stonewall riots that took place in the United States back in 1969 in which gays, lesbians and transgender people clashed with police in response to police aggression. It's a symbol of resistance against oppression and discrimination.