The Next Day #81: Berlin Holiday Guide
Must-See Events in Berlin: December 19 to New Year's Eve
Hi,
We’re escaping Berlin’s winter but won’t leave you hanging. This time, however, we’re skipping the week’s top picks. Take your time with the guide and choose what suits you best.
This guide is a bit different—more concise in some parts, highlighting a few parties and events for Christmas customized for those staying in Berlin.
Wishing you a wonderful holiday season! See you next year with some news.
Have a nice weekend,
Lalai & Mateus
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We’re already on vacation and far from Berlin. There aren’t so many concerts happening in town right now, but if you want to see some live music, we recommend:
KM28
📍 Karl-Marx-Strasse 28, Neukölln, 12043 Berlin. 🕒 Open until 19.12.
🎵 For experimental tunes in an intimate. We recommend Zeynep Toraman and Marta Forsberg on 18.12 - 8 pm.
Donau115
📍 Donaustrasse 115, Neukölln, 12043 Berlin. 🕒 Open until 21.12.
🎷 Cozy jazz sessions in one of Berlin’s most beloved venues.
Schokoladen
📍 Ackerstrasse 169, Mitte, 10115 Berlin. 🕒 Ongoing.
🎸 Rock & post-rock concerts, plus parties!
Giri
📍 Reuterstrasse 95, Neukölln, 12053 Berlin. 🕒 Ongoing.
🎧 Laidback vibes with excellent electronic music curation.
Sameheads
📍 Richardstrasse 10, Neukölln, 12043 Berlin. 🕒 Ongoing.
💃 A cozy dancefloor with cool electronic music for festive nights.
Make sure to check the service hours before going. You can check out the latest edition for our listening bar's favorite list.
YOUR LOVE
Friday, 20.12, 10 pm - 8 am. Panorama Bar, Am Wriezener Bahnhof 70, 10243 Berlin.
🎧 Lakuti and Tama Sumo’s final party of the year promises love and happiness. The Line-up features Flo Real, Kléo, and our favorite Friday party at Panorama Bar.
NAKED SOLIDARITY VOL. 4
Saturday, 21.12, 10 pm - 6 am. Bi Nuu, Im U-Bhf. Schlesisches Tor, 10997 Berlin. Ticket: 12/15 €.
FLINTA*s take over Bi Nuu for the 4th edition of this feminist solidarity project. Proceeds support Unterschlupf e.V. and Frauenzentrum Paula Panke e.V. 🎧 Punani
Farewell Watergate w. Christian Löffler, Adana Twins & More
Saturday, 21.12, 11 pm - 11 am. Watergate, Falckensteinstrasse 49, 10997 Berlin. Tickets: 23,75€.
One of Berlin’s most iconic venues says goodbye. Our highlight: 🎧 Christian Löffler (Live) performs on one of the city’s most beautiful dance floors.
Farewell Watergate with Richie Hawtin
Friday, 27.12, 11 pm - 12 pm. Watergate, Falckensteinstrasse 49, 10997 Berlin. Tickets: 24,85 € (only at the door).
A breathtaking lineup with 🎧 Richie Hawtin, FJAAK, DJ Stingray 313, AADJA, and more. Don’t miss this chapter in Watergate’s farewell series.
Psychedelic Cumbia Party – Die letzte Party des Jahres
Saturday, 28.12, 11 pm - 6 am. Privatclub, Skalitzer Strasse 85-86, 10997 Berlin. Ticket: 15 €.
Bid farewell to the year with a tropical celebration! This party takes you on a musical journey through the roots of cumbia, spiced with salsa and tropical vibes. 🎧 Selektor Bony
Toy Tonics presents ITALOMANIA
Saturday, 28.12, 11 pm - 8 am. OXI, Wiesenweg 1-4, 10365 Berlin. Ticket: 18,10/22,60 €.
One of our Berlin’s favorite disco parties returns to OXI! Two rooms packed with pure Italo and disco tunes featuring David Bay, 🎧 Vio PRG, Delfonic, Alicia Carrera, and more. Toy Tonics brings disco and house to Bi Nuu this New Year’s Eve.
XMAS PARTY
KnusperHouse
Tuesday, 24.12, 11 pm - 9 am. Renate, Alt Stralau 70, 10245 Berlin. Ticket: 16/22 €.
Staying in Berlin for Christmas? Escape the family overload and join your rave family at Renate for what might be the final KnusperHouse party. 🎧 Tiefschwarz 🎧 Babxi
Finest X-Mas
Wednesday, 25.12, 10 pm - 12 pm. Panorama Bar, Am Wriezener Bahnhof 70, 10243 Berlin.
Celebrate Christmas at Panorama Bar with a stellar Berlin DJ lineup featuring 🎧 Fadi Mohem, Katy De Jesus, Naomi, and Rifts. Not so silent, not so holy—just pure party vibes!
NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY
Renate's Final Silvester: NYE 2025
Tuesday, 31.12, 10 pm - Thursday, 10 am. Renate, Alt Stralau 70, 10245 Berlin. Ticket: 24,20 €/44 €.
Say goodbye to Renate with one final magical NYE party before its closure. A stellar lineup of DJs, live acts, cabaret, tarot readings, and more awaits. Step outside to Elsenbrücke for fireworks with bubbles and re-enter the club to keep the celebration alive. 🎧 Caniche 🎧 Reka Zalan
Stil vor Talent NYE
Tuesday, 31.12, 10:30 pm - 8 am. Sage Beach, Köpenicker Str. 18-20, 10997 Berlin. Ticket: 30 €/120 € (5 people).
Celebrate NYE at Sage Beach with Stil vor Talent's multi-floor lineup. Heated outdoor beach, indoor vibes, and surprises! This is the perfect spot for those who enjoy melodic electronic music vibes! 🎧 Oliver Koletzki 🎧 Rampue 🎧 Anna Almani
Gegen & Pornceptual & RSO
Tuesday, 31.12, 11:59 pm - Thursday, 10 am. RSO.BERLIN, Schnellerstrasse 137, 12439 Berlin. Ticket: 58 €.
Celebrate New Year's with Gegen, Pornceptual, and RSO in a two-day odyssey of music and liberation. A lineup of cutting-edge artists invites you to transcend, transform, and dance into the new year. Wait for techno, hard techno, and house. 🎧JASSS 🎧 The Lady Machine
Silvester Klubnacht
Wednesday, 01.01.2025, starts at 1 am. Berghain, Am Wriezener Bahnhof 70, 10243 Berlin.
Ring in 2025 at Berghain with performances across the Berghain, Panorama Bar, and XXX-Floor featuring ABS8LUTE, Marie Montexier, Zombies In Miami, and more.
Open Haus: Phill Niblock Winter Solstice
Sunday, 22.12, 2 - 8 pm. Flussbad, Köpenicker Chaussee 3a, 10317 Berlin. Free admission with registration.
🎧 Phill Niblock, known for long-form drone compositions, was an experimental sound composer. His music features dense layers of sound played for extended durations, lacking melody, dynamics, and rhythm. This event offers an immersive experience with Niblock's atonal textures.
In Memory of Doris Bither
Fri-Sat, 20-22.12, 7.30 p.m. Directed by Yana Thönnes. In German and English with German and English surtitles. Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, Kurfürstendamm 153, 10709 Berlin. Tickets: 18€.
Doris Bither reports to the police that she has been repeatedly visited and raped at night by an invisible entity in her own home. The police officers classify the case as paranormal activity. An author recognizes the story’s potential and writes a bestseller. Doris Bither loses the copyright to her own story. The performers go in search of the language Doris Bither lacked to tell her story.
Glaube, Geld, Krieg und Liebe (Faith, Money, War and Love)
Wed-Fri, 25-27.12, 6 pm.. In German with English surtitles, Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, Kurfürstendamm 153, 10709 Berlin. Tickets: 9€-60€.
Canadian director Robert Lepage assigned the themes of love, faith, war and money to the four suits of hearts, clubs, spades and diamonds. Improvisations based on the cards, their suits, figures and numbers, have created whole worlds, hugely diverse characters, and four intertwined narratives that stretch across eight decades of German history.
Vatermal
Premiere Saturday 21.12, 7:30 pm and Wednesday 25.12, 6 pm. By Necati Öziri. Directed by Hakan Savaş Mican. In German with English surtitles. Maxim Gorki Theater, Am Festungsgraben 2, 10117 Berlin. Tickets: 12€ - 40€.
Arda is young and doesn’t know how much time he has left. His organs are failing as he lies in the intensive care unit of his hometown hospital in the Ruhr area where the weeks seem to unfold like one never-ending day. Arda can’t help but think back on the moments when he had the feeling that he was a little closer to life.
Bovary
Saturday 21.12, 7:30 pm and Wednesday 25.12, 6 pm. Choreographer: Christian Spuck. Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bismarckstrasse 35, 10627 Berlin. Tickets: 32€-146€.
This was the first production I watched from Staatsballet Berlin earlier this year and the work captivated me. Spuck competently adapted the beauty of Gustave Flaubert's classic novel for the stage.
DRAMA
Friday 27.12 at 7:30 pm. German and English with English and German surtitles. Directed by Constanza Macras. Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz 10178 Berlin. Tickets: 11€ - 33€.
The figures in DRAMA nurture the anthropological desire to cut up popular culture in an effort to discover the arc of suspense between high art and low, and the untiring energy of the glamour dancers of the Argentinian revue of the 1920s.
Perikon Smelters: solo sound exhibition by Ioana Vreme Moser – Cluster #35
Opening: Wednesday, 18.12, 6 pm / Thursday, 19.12, 2 - 6 pm. Labor Neunzehn, Kiefholzstrasse 19/20, 12435 Berlin, Treptow-Köpenick. Free with registration.
It’s an art installation exploring Zincite, a crystal born from industrial processes, revealing its hidden sonic and technological potential through sound, tracing unexpected connections between minerals, human error, and electronic innovation.
Our favorite exhibitions to check out during this holiday break - all museums are closed on Tuesday - 24.12:
Gisèle Vienne: This Causes Consciousness to Fracture – A Puppet Play: The exhibition takes place simultaneously at Haus am Waldsee and the Georg Kolbe Museum. We recommend starting at Kolbe and then enjoying a coffee or wine at Haus am Waldsee's lovely café. Until 12.01.2025, Haus am Waldsee & George Kolbe Museum.
Alfredo Jaar, The End of the World: Jaar's site-specific installation at KINDL critiques ecological and political crises, drawing from a five-year research project on our ailing planet. Until 01.06.2025, KINDL, Am Sudhaus 3, 12053 Berlin.
Semiha Berksoy - Singing in Full Colour: A retrospective in Germany celebrating Turkish artist and opera singer Semiha Berksoy, showcasing 80+ works that span six decades of her impactful career. Until 11.05.2025, Hamburger Bahnhof;
Nan Goldin. This will not end well: This retrospective is the first in Germany to showcase Goldin’s work comprehensively. “My slideshows are films made of stills,” says Goldin. Until 06.04.2025, Neue Nationalgalerie, Potsdamer Str. 50, 10785 Berlin. Tickets: 12€
Conclave
Multiple cinemas. Multiple times. Director: Edward Berger. Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini, Lucian Msamati. Tickets: 12 €.
Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with leading one of the world's most secretive and ancient events: selecting a new Pope. Once the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders have gathered from around the world and are locked together in the Vatican halls, Lawrence finds himself at the center of a conspiracy and discovers a secret that could shake the very foundation of The Church.
Last Minute Call: Xmas pop up shop by F*ck the Internet
Until 22.12, Tue-Fri, 2 - 9 pm; Sat, 12 - 10 pm; and Sun, 12 - 6 pm.
Cute outfits, gift wrapping station & free drinks if you register on RA event.
Merry Markthalle
Sunday, 22.12, 11 am - 6 pm. Markthalle NeunEisenbahnstrasse 4210997 Berlin-Kreuzberg.
Enjoy baked goods, chocolates, toys, jewelry, books, teas, and much more—perfect for the heart and stomach!