The Next Day #88: Berlin Weekend Guide
Must-see events in Berlin: February, 20-23, 2025
Hi,
Coincidentally, we’re both heading back to Berlin—escaping the 40ºC heat but also wishing we could stay a little bit more to enjoy the Brazilian carnival. It’s a paradox. Leaving feels bittersweet, but Berlin is calling. We’re happy to be back and excited for the weekend - lots to do and the end of Berlinale to catch.
Btw, we’ll arrive just in time for the BVG strike. Feeling right at home already.
Have a nice weekend. See you around!
Lalai & Mateus
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🎹 CONCERTS
Pogo Bar: Neva Demure – Unplugged in Berlin
Thursday, 20.02, 9 pm. Pogo Bar, KW, Auguststrasse 69, 10117 Berlin. Ticket: €5 online.
Neva Demure swaps 🎧 hyper-pop for a raw, 90s-inspired sound, playing unplugged versions of her new album ‘Antidote.’ A cozy night of stripped-down electronics at one of Berlin’s most fun small stages.
Jazzexzess: mOnk bOts & CRUTCHES
Friday, 21.02, 8 pm. House of Music, Revaler Str. 99 10245 Berlin. Ticket: €17,17.
It’s a night of free jazz with mOnk bOts and CRUTCHES exploring sonic extremes with piano, sax, drums, and unexpected sounds.
Nubya Garcia live
Friday, 21.02, 7:30 pm - 11 pm. Metropol, Nollendorfplatz 5, 10777 Berlin. Ticket: €30 + fee.
London saxophonist Nubya Garcia brings 🎧 Odyssey to Berlin, blending jazz, dub, R&B, and broken beat. The album flows through orchestral warmth deep, and rolling grooves. Support by Savanna "Sweetwater" Morgan.
ARCHIVE – Live 2025
Friday, 21.02, 6:30 pm doors / 8 pm show. Tempodrom, Möckernstrasse 10, 10963 Berlin, Berlin. Ticket: €49.20.
The British duo Archive celebrates 30 years with a tour revisiting four albums that shaped their sound. In Berlin, they dive into 🎧 You All Look The Same To Me (2002) and 🎧 Noise (2004), mixing trip-hop roots with spacey, cinematic rock.
Resonance Music Community LIVE
Saturday, 22.02, 5 pm - 2 am. 90mil, Holzmarktstr. 19-23, 10243 Berlin. Entry: €15-20 donation + €5 membership.
Live performances by 17 acts, including Lai Raw & Kalla, Hydra Lakes, 🎧 DAEDE, and 🎧 Disco Samir, will bring different influences and rhythms together in an intimate setting. Expect jazz, electronic, and experimental sounds.
🔊 EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC
Technologies of Consciousness // Nico Daleman // Alessandra Eramo
Thursday, 20.02, 8 pm. Errant Sound, Gerichtstr. 45, 13347 Berlin. Entry: Suggested donation.
It’s a night of experimental sound, live performance, and talk. 🎧 Technologies of Consciousness explore near-death states through turntables and biodisks, 🎧 Alessandra Eramo pushes the limits of voice and noise, and 🎧 Nico Daleman reflects on sound, silence, and power.
📻 LISTENING SESSIONS
n.b.k. Records: Listening Sessions & Talk
Thursday, 20.02, 8 - 10 pm. Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.), Chausseestrasse 128-129, 10115 Berlin. Free entry.
This series brings together artists and musicians to discuss the creative concepts behind their projects. With Rosa Barba, Christine Sun Kim, Gudrun Gut, Soundwalk Collective, plus the premiere of the music video for ‘Fuck Tomorrow’ by Soundwalk Collective & Nina Kraviz.
Open Haus: The Gyuto Monks Tibetan Tantric Choir
Sunday, 23.02, anytime between 2 - 8 pm. Reethaus, Köpenicker Ch 3a, 10317 Berlin. Ticket: €7.50.
This is a rare chance to hear the Gyuto Monks Tibetan Tantric Choir, known for their deep, resonant chants. Their voices mix into a meditative, physical listening experience over a 360-degree spatial sound system. I’ve listened to this before, and it was a beautiful experience.
🪩 PARTIES
Kimchi Records w/ Sansibar, Kim & Kamyar, DJ Zurück Bleiben Bitte
Thursday, 20.02, 10 pm - 5 am. Sameheads, Richardstr. 10, 12043 Berlin.
🎧 Sansibar, known for his mix of electro, house, and breaks, joins Kim & Kamyar and 🎧 DJ Zurückbleiben Bitte for a night of deep grooves and offbeat club sounds.
Baile TRAMA w/ CHEDIAK
Friday, 21.02, 11:30 pm - 6 am. Lark, Holzmarktstrasse 15-18, 10179 Berlin. Ticket: €15-17.
Baile TRAMA welcomes 🎧 Chediak and 🎧 Galecta for a night of baile funk, samba, and Brazilian rhythms mixed with drum & bass, jungle, and footwork. It’s time to move, sweat, and let loose—get ready to drop it low.
Toy Tonics presents ITALOMANIA
Friday, 21.02, 11 pm - 8 am. OXI, Wiesenweg 1-4, 10365 Berlin. Tickets: €18,10-€22,60.
One of my favorite parties in town with one of my favorite DJs in Berlin, 🎧 Daniel Wang—Toy Tonics promises a full night of disco and Italo grooves. Delfonic and Residentes Balearicos set the vibe, while Camila Ramirez & Andrea Dama keep things going till morning.
Love On The Rocks
Saturday, 22.02, 10 pm - late. Panorama Bar, Am Wriezener Bahnhof, 10243 Berlin. Ticket: around €26.
🎧 PARAMIDA brings another Love On The Rocks to Panorama Bar. Alex Kassian returns, joined by 🎧 DJ Gabbs, 🎧 ISAbella, and 🎧 Matthew Dexter, mixing deep grooves, tribal rhythms, and rich synth textures.
No_Stone w/ Mika Oki, Asifeh, Michael Brailey & more
Saturday, 22.02, 11 pm - 6 am. Panke, Gerichtstr. 23, 13347 Berlin. Ticket: €16,95.
Experimental, bass-driven, and genre-blurring club sounds with an international lineup. 🎧 Eleftheria 🎧 Assyouti
🎭 PERFORMING ARTS
Glaube, Geld, Krieg und Liebe (Faith, Money, War and Love)
Wed-Sun, 22-22.02, 6 pm; 23.02, 5 pm. In DE with EN surtitles, Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, Kurfürstendamm 153, 10709 Berlin. Tickets: €9-60.
Robert Lepage links love, faith, war, and money to the suits of playing cards, creating four interwoven narratives spanning eight decades of German history. Improvisations based on the cards bring diverse characters and worlds to life.
Berlin Oranienplatz
Thursday, 20.02, 8 pm. Directed by Hakan Savaş Mican. In DE with EN surtitles. Maxim Gorki Theater, Am Festungsgraben 2, 10117 Berlin. Tickets: €12-40.
Can spends his last day in Berlin before fleeing to Istanbul, revisiting places and faces from his past. A poetic homage to Berlin, mixing video imagery and live music, inspired by Döblin’s Berlin Alexanderplatz.
Drei Mal Leben / Three Times Life (Life x 3)
Saturday, 22.02, 8 pm; Sunday, 23.02, 4 pm & 7:30 pm. Directed by Andrea Breth. In DE with EN surtitles. Berliner Ensemble, Bertolt-Brecht-Platz 1, 10117 Berlin. Tickets: €18-57.
An evening unfolds in three variations as Henri and Sonya’s plans are disrupted by unexpected guests. A witty, sharp exploration of human nature, power, and shifting alliances in this comedy by the acclaimed author of Art and The God of Carnage, Yasmina Reza.
🎨 VISUAL ARTS
Making Spaces: Artist Talk with Boris Mikhailov and Wolfgang Tillmans
Wednesday 19.02 6 pm. In English. Hamburger Bahnhof, Invalidenstraße 50 – 51, 10557 Berlin. Free Admission.
Hamburger Bahnhof will host an artist talk with Boris Mikhailov and Wolfgang Tillmans who have been familiar with each other’s practice since the 1990s. The conversation will explore the intersections and contrasts in their artistic practices as they reflect on each other’s works. Together, they will explore a shared creative language.
Laure Prouvost – WE FELT A STAR DYING
Opening: Thursday, 20.02, 6 - 11 pm. Free entry/No RSVP. Exhibition: 21.02 - 04.05. Kraftwerk, Köpenicker Str. 70, 10179 Berlin. Ticket: €12.
Laure Prouvost explores quantum reality through video, sound, scent, and sculpture. Developed with access to a quantum computer, this multi-sensory installation at Kraftwerk Berlin shifts perception and reflects on emerging technologies.
Elmgreen & Dragset: Momentan nicht erreichbar
Opening: Thursday 20.02, 6–8 pm. Until 12.04. Galerie Max Hetzler Potsdamer Strasse 77–87, 10785 Berlin. Free Admission.
Elmgreen & Dragset capture fragile everyday moments through figurative sculptures, inviting viewers to reflect—are these characters lost or on the verge of self-discovery?
Uwe Wittwer: A Short Parade
Opening: Thursday 20.02, 6–9 pm. Until 29.02. Galerie Judin, Potsdamer Straße 83, 10785 Berlin. Free Admission.
With twenty-three small-format and two large paintings, the jewel-like colors immediately stand out. However, the underlying theme of the exhibition may come as a surprise.
Last Chance! Elmgreen & Dragset: Pièce Unique - Balancing Act (blue), 2024
Until 22.02, Galerie Max Hetzler, Window Gallery, Goethestrasse 2/3, 10623 Berlin. Free Admission.
Balancing Act (blue) (2024) by Elmgreen & Dragset features a vulture perched on a bench press, turning it into a coach. Part of The Critic series, the work questions art criticism and societal vultures, highlighting those who profit from others' misfortune.
CINEMA
🎬 39TH TEDDY AWARD – Berlinale 2025
Friday, 21.02, 8:30 pm. Volksbühne, Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, 10178, Berlin. Ticket:30€-150€.
The TEDDY AWARD honors the best queer films at Berlinale 2025. With categories spanning feature, documentary, and short films, the ceremony celebrates outstanding LGBTQ+ cinema, followed by the legendary after-party.
75th Berlinale (2025)
Until 23.02: 15 cinemas will be part of the 75th Berlin International Film Festival venues.
We’ve compiled a special guide to help you navigate the 75th Berlinale edition. You can check it out here. We’re adding our top 8 picks to the list:
21.02: A Complete Unknown (Dir. James Mangold), the movie about Bob Dylan;
21.02: Hot Milk, Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s debut film is a tense drama on family struggle & woe;
19 and 23.02: The Chinese tense drama Girls on Wire (Dir. Vivian Qu) is about a mother's deadly act and its aftermath;
22-23.02: Sorda (Deaf) (Dr. Eva Libertad) Ángela and Héctor await their baby's hearing status, navigating doubts, identity, and the challenges of parenthood.
21 and 23.02: Drømmer (Dreams – Sex Love) (Dir. Dag Johan Haugerud):
A teenager’s first love collides with family expectations.22.02: O Último Azul (Blue Trail) by Gabriel Mascaro- an elderly woman who resists forced relocation, embarking on a final journey through the Amazon.
20, 22-23.02: Looking for Langston (Dir. Isaac Julien) is a poetic black-and-white film exploring Langston Hughes and queer desire.
22.02: Peter Hujar’s Day (Dir. Ira Sachs) - A recreated conversation between photographer Peter Hujar and writer Linda Rosenkrantz.
🍴 FOOD & DRINK
eat! berlin market
Friday-Sunday, 28.02 - 02.03. Kalle Halle, Karl-Marx-Straße 101, 12043 Berlin. Ticket: €39-99. Entry includes sparkling wine, an oyster, and water.
A must for food lovers—eat! berlin market brings top chefs, butter burgers, dim sum, carbonara, and fine wines under one roof.
🪴 MISCELLANEOUS
Großer Pflanzenverkauf Berlin
Fri-Sat, 21-22.02, 10 am - 7 pm; 23.02, Sun, 11 am - 4 pm. Kühlhaus Berlin, Luckenwalder Strasse 3 10963 Berlin. Free entry.
If you're looking to bring more green into your home, this plant market is always a great pick. Wait for a selection of plants at affordable prices—perfect for adding life to your space.
Book Launch “Monique bricht aus” by Édouard Louis
Sunday, 23.02, 7:30 pm. Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, Kurfürstendamm 153, 10709 Berlin. Tickets: €9.
Édouard Louis reads excerpts in French and discusses his latest book (in English) with Nils Haarmann. Actress Eva Meckbach presents selected passages in German.
🌶️ Events Suggested by Our Readers
Time to Shine
Thu-Sat, 20-22.02, Neue Bühne Friedrichshain, Boxhagener Str. 18, 10245 Berlin. Tickets: €25-€50.
Berlin’s subversive night of comedy, where kink is not just a punchline, but a way of life. Hosted by award-winning comedians Terry and L'aDios, this unapologetic night of storytelling, movement, and stand-up celebrates the humor and vulnerability of the kink community.
📣 Save the Date
🎹 Lubomyr Melnyk: One of my favorite pianists playing€ again in Berlin. Friday, 28.02, 8 pm. Tickets: from €33. 🎧 Pockets of Light
🎉 Carnaval - Baile da Bossa: A taste of Brazilian carnival vibes in Berlin. Sat, 01.03, 1 pm - 4:30 am. Festsaal Kreuzberg. Tickets: €10-€18.
🕺 Freedom Sonata by Emanuel Gat: To mark 30 years as a professional choreographer, dance artist Emanuel Gat has devised an ode to freedom. Fri-Sat, 07-08.03. Haus der Berliner Festspiele Tickets: €15-€39.
🎤 FKA Twigs presents her latest album 🎧 EUSEXUA: R&B, electronic, and avant-garde music. 11.03, Uber Eats Music Hall. Tickets: €71,10/€109.
🎹 Sound Metaphors 10 year anniversary part I with Suzanne Ciani (live): Friday, 14.03, 8 pm - 12 am. Berghain/Panorama Bar. Ticket: €32.