The Next Day #55: Berlin Weekend Guide
Must-Go Events in Berlin: June 20th to June 23rd
Hi!
It's hard to believe we're already in mid-June, and this Friday will be the longest day of the year, with the sun setting at 9:33 PM and twilight at 10:30 PM. A lot is happening in the city, but fewer concerts than usual. If you managed to get tickets for Smashing Pumpkins, congrats—they're sold out!
Three parties are on our radar this weekend: Akua at Berlin Beats and the SoundCloud Party tonight, because we love the platform. On Friday, it's the Your Love party at Panorama Bar. To wrap up the weekend, we're excited to dance with Carista at Plötzensee on Sunday.
The highlight of this weekend is Fête de la Musique, a fantastic opportunity to hop from one dancefloor to another, discovering new places and artists. We've picked just three events, but make sure to explore the event website to find something you like if our picks don't suit you.
This Friday and Saturday, catch MEXA: The Last Supper, a unique banquet performance at Sophiensaele.
We're unpacking our bags and looking forward to enjoying this sunny Thursday. Fingers crossed the rain forecasted for Friday doesn't show up.
❗Stay in the loop with Berlin's latest news in English through 20 Percent Berlin. Get a sneak peek of our weekend guide every Tuesday.❗
We'll be back to our regular schedule next week. Have a great weekend!
Lalai & Mateus
Toshimaru Nakamura | Bjørgeengen & Uchihashi
Thursday, 20.06, 8 pm. KM28, Karl-Marx-Strasse 28, 12043 Berlin. Donation based.
This Thursday promises to be an exceptional night featuring 🎧 Toshimaru Nakamura, Kjell Bjørgeengen, and Kazuhisa Uchihashi. Nakamura uses a no-input mixing board, producing electronic sounds without external audio. Bjørgeengen's flicker videos blend sound and video sync, revealing visual oscillation, while Uchihashi, a composer and daxophone player, bridges art and phenomenon with his unique touch.
Aurora Edition: Primitive Art + Tukico + Tim Novikov (AV)
Saturday, 22.06, 7 - 11 pm. Silent Green, Gerichtstrasse 35, Wedding. Ticket: 23€
Aurora Edition features ambient, drone, atmospheric, and experimental live concerts in unique venues. Audiences are immersed in cathedral-like settings with custom audio-reactive visuals and lighting. The edition includes performances by 🎧 Primitive Art, 🎧 Tukico (Hoshiko Yamane), and Tim Novikov (AV) with dome projections. Tukico is a member of Tangerine Dream.
Berlin Beats
Thursday, 20.06, 7 - 10 pm. Hamburger Bahnhof, Invalidenstrasse 50, 10557 Berlin. Free admission.
The Ghanaian-American DJ Akua with roots in North American techno exemplifies a sonic force that reverberates worldwide. Her sets encompass a wide range of energies – covering percussive elements of the mid-90s to the powerfully groovy sounds of the early 2000s.
SoundcloudHQ Party
Thursday, 20.06, 7 pm - 1 am. Soundcloud HQ, Rheinsberger Str. 76, 10115 Berlin. Free entrance.
I'm a SoundCloud fan and excited to visit their HQ. Wait for a night filled with breakbeat and techno.
Autopilot, Free Open Air - TXL Airport
Friday, 21.06, 2 - 11 pm. Turbulence, Tegel. Free admission with registration.
Six of Berlin's bassist collectives will take over the city's newest and most exciting club space - Turbulence TXL, an open-air playground for club culture on the airfield of the former Tegel airport.
C.E presents: Arthur, Kiri, PLO Man, Ron Morelli + Special Guests
Friday, 21.06, 10 pm - 8 am. Aktionshaus, Gottlieb-Dunkelstrasse 43/44, Neukölln. Ticket: 15€.
The Tokyo-based brand Cav Empt throws a heavy one at Aktionshaus, with music from L.I.E.S. boss Ron Morelli, 🎧 PLO Man, and more.
Coloring Lessons x Your Love
Friday, 21.06, 10 pm. Panorama Bar, Am Wriezener Bahnhof, D-10243 Berlin, S-Ostbahnhof.
Our favorite party at Panorama Bar, “Your Love,” joins forces with the New York party Coloring Lessons. Get ready to dance until your feet hurt or the sun peeks through the windows of Panorama Bar.
ICKPA 2024
Fri-Mon, 21-24.06, 11 pm - 6 am. RSO, Schnellerstrasse 137, 12439 Berlin. Ticket: 26,80/46,90€.
ICKPA assembles another fine lineup for its third Berlin edition, spotlighting the best of Ukraine's underground scene alongside international talent including Helena Hauff, Call Super, and KI/KI. The panel discussions happen on Thursday from 6 pm.
Sneaker Social Dub
Saturday, 22.06, 7 pm - 7 am. OHM, Köpenicker Str. 70, 10179 Berlin. Ticket: 15€.
The British label Sneaker Social Club returns to OHM for another party for the ♡ low-end lovers ♡, featuring live sets from 🎧 Shackleton, 🎧 Tikiman & Scion, and DJ sets from Gavsborg, Appleblim, 🎧 Uta, and more.
Creamcake: Is it cold in the water
Saturday, 22.06, 7 pm - 8 am. ÆDEN, Schleusenufer 2, 10997 Berlin. Ticket: 28,25€
Fifteen-plus artists will flood ÆDEN’s two floors with different genres of music, from Lyzza and Windowseeker's dance to LA TIMPA and 🎧 Cõvco’s softer atmospherics. 🎧 KMRU, Francesca Heart, 🎧 JASSS, among others are featured in the lineup.
Rafiki Daytime Jam
Sunday, 23.06, 2 - 11:59 pm. Strandbad Plötzensee, Nordufer 26, 13351 Berlin. Ticket: 9/15€
Ending the weekend dancing on the beach with 🎧 Carista on the decks already has me looking forward to Sunday.
Féte de La Musique on Friday (21.06) - our three highlights:
☀️ Gretchen Blockparty (Open Air) with KUF (live), Femdelic, and others. Wait for funk, soul, and electronic music. Friday, 6 - 10 pm. Free entrance.
🪩 Else x Tiergarten for an open-air party during the day with Adis is Ok, 🎧 ELIZABETE BALČUS, Nana Schewitz, RifRaf, and others. Friday, 4 pm - 6 am. Free entrance.
⚡️ Monopol for a beautiful party with classical, electronic, and folk music: 🎧 Islandman, 🎧 Shiau-Shiuan Hung, 🎧 Meredi, and others. Visual performance with Organysmo. Friday, 4 - 10 pm. Monopol, Provinzstrasse 40-44, 13409 Berlin. Free admission.
The Work
Thu 20.06, 7:30 and 9:00 pm. Concept by Susanne Kennedy und Markus Selg. In English with German surtitles. Volksbühne Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, 10178 Berlin. Ticket: 20€.
The theatre installation revolves around the life and work of an artist staged as a retrospective. THE WORK also implies working on your own life. What does it mean to look back at your own life and work while you’re still living?
Ein Bericht für eine Akademie (A Report to an Academy)
Thursday, 20.06, 8 pm. Directed by Oliver Frljić. In German with English surtitles. Maxim-Gorki-Theater Am Festungsgraben 2 10117 Berlin. Tickets: 12€ to 40€.
Using the narrative material of Franz Kafka’s story A Report to an Academy as a basis, Oliver Frljić develops a story of a brutal incarnation. He interrogates the self- and externally-inflicted violation of one who once knew freedom and then landed in the prison of the privileged, the conformed, the standardized.
MEXA: The Last Supper
Fri-Sat, 21-22.06, 8:30 pm. Creation, production: MEXA. Brazilian Portuguese with German and English surtitles. Sophiensaele, Sophienstrasse 18, 10178 Berlin, Ticket: 15€.
Based on the Last Supper of Jesus, MEXA presents a banquet performance centered on farewells. Audience members join the performers at a long table to share a meal. Through a dramaturgy of dishes and storytelling, the lives of MEXA members intertwine with religious references, creating a unique and immersive experience.
It´s Britney, Bitch
Saturday, 22.06, 7:30 pm. Sunday, 23.06, 7:00 pm. By Sina Martens & Lena Brasch. In German with English surtitles. Berliner Ensemble. Bertolt-Brecht-Platz 1, 10117 Berlin. Tickets: 19€ to 29€.
"It’s Britney, Bitch!" is an evening of music and stories about unhappy love and dependency, about truth and truthfulness in pop, about fathers of daughters and daughters of fathers. It's a show about Britney Spears and the Britney in all of us.
Rafa Silvares: “Bloom”
Opening: Friday, 21.06, 6-9 pm. Until 31.08. Peres Projects, Karl-Marx-Allee 82, 10243 Berlin. Free Admission.
Rafa Silvares’ latest works are characterized by a clear, sharp, and minimalist vocabulary of color and everyday objects. Assertive compositions featuring red, green, and blue architectures, combined with realistic depictions of ordinary reflective objects painted with photographic precision, seamlessly blend with floral elements and fluid, cloud-like shapes.
Tuli Mekondjo: “Ousie Martha”
Opening: Saturday, 22.06, 6 pm. Performance: 7 pm. Until 18.08. daadgalerie, Oranienstr. 161, 10969 Berlin. Free Admission.
In Ousie Martha, Tuli Mekondjo focuses on the significance and ramifications of (forced) female labor in Namibia. The works on show reflect upon the power structures that were introduced to Namibia under colonial rule and still influence its various social and cultural groups.
Alex Flemming: “Lapides (gravestones)”
Finissage: Sunday, 23.06, 4-8 pm. Hošek Contemporary, Motor Ship Heimatland" on the Spree Near Fischerinsel 2, Berlin 10179
The installation "Lapides" (gravestones) showcases over 100 old computers, each painted with bright and garish colors and inscribed with the names of their former owners. Alex Flemming explores life and death on three levels of meaning: the death of the machine itself, the future death of current technology, and the death of the people who owned the computers.
Peter Bond: “It’s Good Enough for Nansy”
Until 03.08. Galerie Barbara Thumm, Markgrafenstrasse 68, 10969 Berlin. Free Admission.
Bonde’s practice blends inspiration from Abstract Expressionism and Conceptual Art with a contemporary approach. His abstract and colorful compositions explore the power and function of mass-circulated imagery, the fragility of memory, and personal archives.
The Lobster
Sunday, 23.06, 9:45 pm. Director: Yorgos Lanthimos. Freiluftkino Kreuzberg. In English with German subtitles. Courtyard of Kunstquartier Bethanien on Mariannenplatz 2. Ticket: 9€
The first international success of Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things). Sometime in the future. Being single is frowned upon. Humans must live as couples. Those who don’t have a partner are sent to a singles resort. What's more, those who still don’t manage to find anybody there are turned into animals. It’s so simple, so bewildering, so surreal, so ingenious.
Queer Week 2024
Thu – Sun, 20-23.06, various times. Maxim-Gorki-Theater Am Festungsgraben 2 10117 Berlin/ Studio Я, Hinter dem Giesshaus 2 10117 Berlin. Tickets: 5€ to 18€.
Artistic perspectives in performance, exhibition, music, reading, and film. The program delves into the loss and mourning of queer bodies, highlighting critical art in times of war and state oppression, pointing out the pressure from families and society, as well as inner conflicts, and at the same time exploring the possibilities for solidarity within the queer community.
Krake Festival 2024
Sat-Sun, 22-23.06, 4 pm - 11:59 pm. ://about blank, Markgrafendamm 24c, 10245 Berlin. Ticket: 16,95/28,25€.
Krake Festival 2024 in Berlin is a week-long celebration of cutting-edge electronic music. Opening yesterday at Berghain with Drag Syndrome, the festival emphasizes inclusivity and features artists with disabilities. Continuing at “://about blank” over the weekend, it showcases innovative performances and a diverse lineup of electro and techno acts.
Sonic Matters – Independent Label Market II
Sunday, 23.06, 2 - 10 pm. Silent Green, Gerichtstrasse 35, Wedding. Free admission.
Need to refresh your home record collection? This market features numerous independent record labels from Berlin opening their stock. Find experimental sounds, musique concrète, ambient, new music, noise, electronica, and more—perfect for fans of contemporary and electro-acoustic music.
🌈 Gay Propaganda 2.0 - Queer Film Program Curated by Slava Mogutin. Freiluftkino Kreuzberg. Wednesday, 26.06 9:45 pm Ticket:12€
🎸 Garbage: Shirley Mason is back! Thu, 04.07, 8 pm. Verti Music Hall. 🎧 Betcha
🌕 Air play Moon Safari: Sunday, 21.07, 7 pm, Zitadelle Spandau. Ticket: 54/82€. 🎧 Moon Safari
We'll have a great update for the 'save the date' section in next week's guide.