Can’t decide how to spend your summer days and nights? Here’s our list of the best events in July.
Tuesday 1
The #DAMUR SS26 Party
Things are heating up at KitKat Club, as Berlin label #DAMUR unveils its SS26 collection “Make Me Water”. Inspired by Tyla’s global hit, this poolside runway fantasy promises steamy looks, slick bodies and a splash of late-night mischief. Expect mesh, goggles, floaties, thongs and an afterparty to remember. Dresscode? Swimwear, naturally – don’t say we didn’t warn you.
- KitKat Club, Köpenicker Str. 76, Brückenstr. 1, Kreuzberg. Starts 20:00, details.
Pitch & Perform
Apricot Productions’ international multidisciplinary performance art festival is packed with contemporary dance and curated wines. Alongside performances from the likes of Venera Kazarova, GREYZONE, Pamela Pietro and Rhiannon Morgan, there’ll be several free online workshops meant to help dancers with the professional side of their work.
- Various Locations, through July 4, details.
Wednesday 2
Berlin on Film: Good Bye, Lenin!
The next installment in our Berlin on Film Series is a bittersweet comedy about the early chaos after reunification. You can read more about the screening here.
- Bergfest Kio, Schnellerstr. 137, Treptow. Doors at 18:30, details.
Thursday 3
Fierce Foundations: International Ballroom Festival
Let’s be real: sometimes all a girl needs is to serve absolute cunt in some 10-inch heels. Get ready for a weekend-long celebration of modern ballroom culture, queer and Bipoc identities and radical self-expression. Curated by the legendary House of St. Laurent, the festival features workshops, panels and a final ball guaranteed to leave the runway scorched.
- HAU2, Hallesches Ufer 34, Kreuzberg. Through Jul 6, details
Jéssica Teixeira: MONGA
In her award-winning solo performance MONGA, Brazilian artist Jéssica Teixeira draws on circus history, freak show tropes and the tragic life of “werewolf-woman” Julia Pastrana to deconstruct the politics of the colonised body on stage.
- Sophiensaele, Sophienstr. 18, Mitte. Starts 20:00, also on Jul 4, details.
Friday 4
Heroines of Sound
Since 2014, this genre-defying feminist festival has spotlighted women and gender-diverse pioneers of experimental and electronic music. This year’s edition features the German premiere of Finnish performance group Oblivia, a guest set by the legendary Israeli Meitar Ensemble and an immersive sleep concert that turns lullabies into lab work. God knows we could all use a decent night’s rest.
- ZK/U & Radialsystem, Siemensstr. 27, Moabit. Through Jul 12, details.
Open Air Cinema Körnerpark
For a few nights every summer – on those rare occasions when Neukölln’s Körnerpark isn’t fully overrun by Zoomers filming their eleventh Reel of the day (no shade, we get it) – the picturesque green space transforms into a communal open-air cinema. All screenings free of charge.
- Körnerpark, Schierker Str., Neukölln. Starts 21:00, also on Jul 11, 18 & 25, details.
Rooftop Flea Market
Proving that absolutely everything is more fun on a rooftop (bars? check. awkward first-date makeout sessions? also check.), this sprawling flea market takes the art of thrifting to new heights. Over 200 vendors will offer everything from vintage fashion to vinyls and books.
- Gesundbrunnen Center, Badstr. 4, Gesundbrunnen. Through Jul 5, details.
Saturday 5
Lakeside Film Festival
This is your sign to finally live out that nerdy summer-camp fantasy you’ve secretly been clinging to for years. Hundreds of arthouse-addicted film geeks gather on a remote campsite in Brandenburg for three days of outdoor screenings, film trivia and live music. While the festival starts on Friday, Saturday’s programme is by far the most dense, with screenings of films like cult classic Possession and the poetic Ancestral Visions of the Future. This weekend is gonna be a movie, bro!
- Klingemühle 4, Friedland. Through Jul 6, details.
A Sensation from the Mud
In 2022, Italian archaeologists discovered over two dozen bronze statues in the ruins of an ancient thermal sanctuary. On display for the first and only time outside of Italy, the bronzes offer rare insights into Etruscan healing practices and religious rituals.
Potsdamer Platz Summer market
Manifesto’s free-entry Summer market is bringing local food and art to Potsdamer Platz. Expect curated artisanal souvenirs and plenty of refreshing bites. Who knows, a market might bring a little life to the usually soulless square.
- Potsdamer Platz, Tiergarten. Starts 12:00, details.
Sunday 6
Kosher Street Food Festival
Babka, borscht and vegan burgers: Berlin’s Jewish community cordially invites you to a grand celebration of kosher street food at the Neue Synagoge in Mitte, serving up modern takes on traditional Jewish comfort food.
- Centrum Judaicum, Oranienburger Str. 28-30, Mitte. Starts 11:00, details.
Down by the River
Going into its 14th edition this year, this intimate open-air party features a wildly eclectic lineup of newcomer acts across a range of niche genres, from intergalactic kosmo pop to dystopian disco and contemporary bagpipe-yodel fusion. You’ve been warned.
- ://about blank, Markgrafendamm 24c, Friedrichshain. Starts 13:00, details
GWF Wrestling @ Festsaal Kreuzberg
You’ll never be ready for the sheer amount of sweaty wrestler-on-wrestler action the German Wrestling Federation is bringing to Summer Smash July at Festsaal Kreuzberg. Boo and cheer at heels and faces alike while getting caught up in the kayfabe of it all.
- Festsaal Kreuzberg, Am Flutgraben 2, Kreuzberg. Doors at 17:00, details.
Thursday 10
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Shakespeare’s classic fever dream of love, lust and fairy drama gets a full makeover in this new open-air adaptation at Globe Berlin. Who needs annoyingly attractive soft-boy Leo as Romeo when you can have German character actor Peter Beck as Puck?
- Globe Berlin, Sömmeringstr. 15, Charlottenburg. Starts 19:30, details.
Friday 11
Bite Club
Get ready for yet another finger-lickin’ edition of Bite Club, Berlin’s iconic street food party cheffing up international delicacies accompanied by live DJ sets and an outdoor pool to cool off. Chat, are they cooking?
- Arena Berlin and Badeschiff, Eichenstr. 4, Alt-Treptow. Starts 12:00, details.
Marta Astfalck-Vietz: Staging the Self
Long before the term ‘male gaze’ was making waves on liberal arts campuses, German photographer Marta Astfalck-Vietz turned the camera on herself to deconstruct traditional gender roles. This solo show presents over 130 portraits, nudes and surreal self-studies from her visionary work in the Weimar-era underground.
- Berlinische Galerie, Alte Jakobstr. 124-128, Kreuzberg. Through Oct 13, details.
Delcy Morelos: Madre
For her first German solo exhibition, Colombian artist Delcy Morelos transforms the Hamburger Bahnhof into an immersive landscape of scent and texture. Using organic materials like soil, grass and clay, Madre explores Indigenous heritage and humanity’s fractured bond with nature.
- Hamburger Bahnhof, Invalidenstr. 50, Moabit. Through Jan 2026, details.
Saturday 12
Rave the Planet
Organised by techno godfather and certified scene elder Dr. Motte, this annual parade-slash-protest gathers thousands of rave enthusiasts to demand recognition of club culture and electronic music as cultural heritage. As the mighty Beastie Boys once said: “You gotta fight for your right to party!”
- Straße des 17. Juni, Tiergarten. Starts 14:00, details.
Lollapalooza Berlin
Whether you’re here for the music or just always wanted to see a grown man in a baby-blue jumpsuit flip off a piano (what the hell, Benson Boone?), Lollapalooza Berlin is so back. Alongside the usual pop giants, the lineup also features exciting acts like British indie rock darlings The Last Dinner Party and dream-pop sibling-duo Wasia Project.
- Olympiastadion, Flatowallee, Trakehner Allee, Westend. Through Jul 13, details.
Monday 14
SOOT Trivia Night
Whether you’re a Berliner or a Wahlberliner, hopping over language barriers at SOOT Bar’s bilingual trivia night should be as fun as you are clumsy with your dative verbs. You can look forward to signature cocktails and prizes if your team wins.
- SOOT Bar, Alte Postdamer Str. 7, Tiergarten. Starts 19:00, details.
La Pain de Mie Music Quiz @ Silverfuture
Drag queen Gloria Gay Pierre’s music quiz and drag show with a sick title is making its seasonal visit to the Silverfuture Bar in Neukölln. This time, the stakes are high – the winning team will be rewarded with a freshly home-baked brioche loaf.
- Silverfuture Bar, Weserstr. 206, Neukölln. Starts 19:00, details.
Thursday 17
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
Brecht and Weil’s iconic satire about morally corrupt city-dwellers disillusioned by capitalism (wait, is this play about us?) returns to the stage as an immersive, three-dimensional opera experience at Deutsche Oper – unfolding throughout the entire building, from the foyer to the stage.
- Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bismarkstr. 35, Charlottenburg. Also on Jul 20, 22, 24 & 26, details.
Breathing Matter(s) – Véréna Paravel & Lucien Castaing-Taylor
With their unsettling experimental work, filmmakers Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor have spent the past decade pushing the boundaries of cinema, anthropology and sensory art. This retrospective showcases the duo’s most visceral projects to date, from films about blood-soaked fishing trawlers to close-ups of pulsating human flesh.
Classic Open Air Gendarmenmarkt
Gendarmenmarkt is here to continue this Summer’s streak of open-air classical concerts, this time with light shows and fireworks. The event also includes some orchestral rock, jazz and pop productions alongside German and Italian operas and operettas.
- Gendarmenmarkt 5, Mitte. Through Jul 21, details.
Friday 18
In Sight! Lovis Corinth, the Nationalgalerie and the “Degenerate Art” Campaign
Marking the 100th anniversary of German impressionist Lovis Corinth’s death, this major showcase traces the turbulent history of his most influential works, many of which were later branded ‘degenerate art’ and seized by the Nazis.
Saturday 19
Else x Marlon Hoffstadt
Join Berlin’s golden boy Marlon Hoffstadt, alias DJ Daddy Trance, for a euphoric summer rave at our favourite open-air club on the Spree. Because the best way to get a nice tan is while grooving your brains out.
Premiere: Die schweigsame Frau
In the 1930s, literary heavyweight Stefan Zweig and world-renowned composer Richard Strauss teamed up to form what might’ve been the world’s very first supergroup; the result is a dazzling opera on the eternal human need for peace and distraction.
- Staatsoper, Unter den Linden 7, Mitte. Also on Jul 22 & 24, details.
Saturday 26
Christopher Street Day
With LGBTQ rights perpetually under attack around the world, Berlin’s legendary pride parade is not just glitter and good vibes (though it certainly is that too) – it’s a show of solidarity and a defiant middle finger to hate and bigotry. Throw on your most scandalous fit and take to the streets to remind the world that queer joy isn’t up for debate.
- Leipziger Straße, Mitte. Starts 12:00, details.
Wednesday 30
Berlin Circus Festival
For two weeks, Tempelhofer Feld transforms into a sprawling open-air stage for contemporary acrobatic arts. Bringing together 51 shows from across Europe, the interdisciplinary spectacle blends classic circus acts with dance, music and visual artistry.
- Tempelhofer Feld, Tempelhof. Through Aug 10, details.
Thursday 31
House Of Lunacy – Midsummer Dreams
Get puckish and hold onto your hooves at Renate’s sex-positive fairy fantasy club all-nighter. Expectedly, House of Lunacy will be strictly on theme, with curated DJs, art installations and a mythical dress code to match.
- Renate, Alt-Stralau 10, Friedrichshain. Starts 21:00, details.
