What to do this month: Our September Events Guide

01 TUE

Musikfest Berlin

MUSIC Yes we know this technically starts in August, but they’ll be music drifting through the air throughout September from multiple stages across the city. Celebrating its 75th year in Berlin, the Musikfest Berlin organized by the Berlin Festival in cooperation with the Stiftung Berliner Philharmoniker will bring over 60 works by around 40 composers to Philharmonie Berlin, Konzerthaus Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin and others. Opening with György Ligeti’s opera Le Grand Macabre which originally opened the festival in 1951, the programme continues with international music and over 30 instrumental and vocal ensembles from around the world.

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• Various locations. Through to Sep 23.

Prenzlauerberginale #10

FILM Celebrating its tenth edition this year, the Prenzlauerberginale returns to shine a spotlight on the only Berlin district with its own film festival. The month-long programme explores Prenzlauer Berg through feature films, documentaries, television archives and special guest appearances, tracing its evolution from East Berlin enclave to one of the city’s most mythologised areas. It’s a cinematic love letter to a neighbourhood, uncovering the stories, histories and everyday lives that have shaped it over the decades.

• Filmtheater am Friedrichshain. Through to Sep 29.

02 WED

Fantasy Filmfest

FILM The Fantasy Filmfest is a chance to disappear into a world beyond our own. Hosted in Berlin’s swanky Zoo Palast Kino for the 40th rendition of the festival, the programme will include everything from zombie flicks to slashers and all-out fantasy. Previous guests at the festival have included: Robert Eggers, James Gunn and Park Chan-wook. Watch this space for exciting premieres and special guests still to be announced.

• Zoo Palast. Through to Sep 09.

03 THU

Paul Banks DJ Set

MUSIC Lead singer of 00s indie icons Interpol, Paul Banks is spinning his favourite tunes at Neuköllns Rough Trade to celebrate the release of the band’s new album This Mirror Weighs A Ton, released via Partisan Records. Read our full feature with Paul Banks in the music section. 

• Rough Trade Berlin. Starts 20:00. 

Confluence of European Water Bodies 2026

ENVIRONMENT For four days, the River Spree becomes a meeting point for Europe’s rivers, lakes, wetlands, glaciers and seas at the fourth Confluence of European Water Bodies. Curated by Symbiotic Lab, the festival spreads across four Berlin locations, bringing workshops, performances, rituals, collective meals, listening sessions and even a multispecies parliament together around one big question: how can we learn to live with water differently? 

• Various locations. Through to Sep 06. 

International Literature Festival

LIT For over 25 years, the ILB has been bringing writers from all over the world to Berlin. With a stacked programme featuring over 100 writers, the festival will include book premieres, readings and panel discussions featuring authors such as Dave Eggars, Christian Kracht and Nobel Prize winner Han Kang. 

• Haus der Berliner Festspiele. Through to Sep 12.

Silent Film Festival

FILM Silver screen fanatics unite. Celebrating 100 years of silent films, the iconic Babylon Kino in the heart of Mitte is hosting its Silent Film Festival. It won’t be all quiet on the festival front though; every film will be accompanied by their in-house live orchestra. Admission is completely free, just book in advance and don’t be late or you’ll lose your seat (they don’t show adverts before the screening). 

• Babylon Kino Mitte. Through to Sep 13.

Film Without Borders

FILM Back for the 14th edition of the festival, Film Without Borders is an International Film Festival that invites us to pack our bags and head on down to Bad Saarow on Lake Scharmützelsee for a weekend of documentaries, short films and special features. The festival programme includes panel discussions and open exchanges with producers, directors and actors, encouraging us to engage with the material past the films themselves. 

• Eibenhof in Bad Saarow. Through to Sep 06.

Kintsugi

Chameleon Theatre continues to programme the crème de la crème of circus arts. Their latest show-stopper is Kintsugi, the Berlin debut by Canada’s Machine de Cirque. Taking inspiration from the Japanese art of kintsugi, in which broken objects are repaired with gold to emphasise the cracks and damage, the show stretches the boundaries of circus storytelling. 

• Chameleon Theatre. Through to Jan 17 2027. 

04 FRI

IFA Berlin, Consumer Electronics Fair

TECH Be the first to get your hands on the latest tech from leading companies worldwide. The IFA brings everything from beauty, gaming, audio and mobility tech to one stage. Every year more than 1900 brands showcase their latest gadgets and more than 220 thousand people are expected to visit the event. 

• Messe Berlin. Through to Sep 8.

KiRILL & FRIENDS FESTIVAL

STAGE This theatre company, founded in Berlin in 2023 by the theatre and film director Kirill Serebrennikov, brings together a community of artists from different countries, cultures and artistic backgrounds. For the first time they’re presenting the festival in Berlin following incarnations in other European cities. The multi-disciplinary programme features film screenings, workshops, panel talks and parties. 

• Various venues. Through to Sep 13.

05 SAT

Screening of Grass with live Music

FILM Grass (1925) is a pioneering silent documentary that still feels remarkably ambitious a century later. Directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack – years before the pair would make King Kong – the film follows the Bakhtiari tribe on their 48-day seasonal migration across Iran’s Zagros Mountains in search of fresh pasture. Along the way, Cooper and Schoedsack became the first Western filmmakers to complete the journey alongside the tribe, capturing more than 50,000 people and hundreds of thousands of animals crossing the icy Karun River and the snow-covered slopes of Zard Kuh. This special screening is accompanied by a live score from acclaimed Iranian composer Peyman Yazdanian. If you think silent cinema isn’t your thing, this might just change your mind. 

• Kino Babylon, Sep 5

Annemirl Bauer

ART This retrospective of East German artist Annemirl Bauer’s work feels like a long overdue celebration of an artist who was denied a major institutional presentation during her lifetime. Exploring human rights, environmental destruction, state oppression and patriarchal power structures, the paintings are personal, political and pack a punch. 

• Minsk Kunsthaus Potsdam. Through Feb 07 2027.

Ikkimel and friends open air 

MUSIC Back for a second time and bigger than ever, German rapper and Tempelhof native, Ikkimel is bringing her live show to the IFA Sommergarten. Currently touring her brand new album POPPSTAR, released in May and promising to bring some collaborators along with her, this rendition of Ikkimel and friends will go down as legendary.  

• IFA Sommergarten. Starts 15:00. 

Gatow Airfield Festival

FESTIVAL Weather permitting, this will be a huge day out for all of Berlin’s biggest aviation nerds because the Gatow airfield is hosting its annual airshow. Featuring spectacular airshows from historical aircraft, bouncy castles, kite flying, food and drink, plus the depot and the museum will also be open to visitors and admission is free.

• Gatow Airfield. Through to Sep 06.

Frizzante The Aperitivo Edition

FOOD Bringing a taste of the Amalfi coast to the former King Size Bar on Friedrichstrasse, this Italian food and wine weekend offers a chance to celebrate the dolce vita in true Italian style. Accompanied by a soundtrack of Italian beats, plus a menu of the finest – you guessed it – Italian gastronomy, you’ll basically be fluent in Italian by the time you leave. Or maybe that’ll be the wine talking.  

• Friedrichstraße 112. Through to Sep 06. 

Antikmeile

MARKET For treasure hunters and window shoppers alike, the 25th Antikmeile literally takes over Suarezstrasse and puts the antiques on the street. This weekend long antiques market is a mecca for all things old-worldly, combining furniture, clothes and art from a bygone era. Whether you’re in the market for a flapper-esqe dress or a Grüenderzeit sideboard, you might find it here.

• Suarezstrasse. Through to Sep 06.

09 WED

PERFORM! Trisha Brown

SHOW PERFORM! at the Neue Nationalgalerie is always a highlight, and for its fifth edition, the headline is Trisha Brown’s seminal Walking on the Wall (1971). Performers walk and run parallel to the floor, suspended from the walls in harnesses. That’s probably enough explanation: just go and see it. Presented around America’s 250th anniversary, the programme revisits a landmark of American postmodern dance alongside a new presentation by choreographer and multidisciplinary artist Kiani del Valle.

• Neue Nationalgalerie. Through to 13.

FilmPOLSKA

FILM The 12th edition of filmPOLSKA brings the full spectrum of Polish cinema to Berlin, from the latest features and documentaries to student films, experimental work, video art and silent movies. Alongside the screenings, expect retrospectives, workshops with Polish directors, talks and discussions with invited guests.

• Various locations. Through to Sep 16.

POOL 26 – Movement Art Film Festival Berlin

FILM Returning for its 19th edition, POOL – Movement Art Film Festival transforms Dock 11 over four nights into one of Berlin’s most unique celebrations of dance on screen. Since 2007, the festival has championed films that blur the boundaries between choreography and cinema, showcasing works where movement, the body and the camera become inseparable. This year’s programme is dedicated to pioneering choreographer and performance artist Meg Stuart. A defining figure in contemporary dance since the early 1990s, Stuart’s work has continually dissolved the lines between movement, film and visual art. Across four nights, expect an eclectic programme of international film that pushes choreography beyond the stage and onto the screen in surprising, emotive and experimental ways.

• DOCK 11. Through to Sep 12.

20 years of Radialsystem 

THEATRE For two decades, Radialsystem has been one of the key venues of Berlin’s independent dance scene, and it shows no signs of slowing down.To celebrate their milestone, they’ve programmed three days of performances, talks and workshops from the scene’s heavyweights. See the Stage section for more info. 

• Radialsystem. Through to Sep 13.

Berlin Art Week 

ART Engage with Berlin’s most exciting contemporary art all week at Berlin Art Week. Opening the autumn art season, this festival works in association with over 100 museums and event spaces. Over the course of the week, you can discover private collections, experience guided tours and visit internationally renowned galleries. See our arts section for more info. 

• Various locations. Through to Sep 13. 

10 THU

Spielraum performing arts

STAGE Berlin’s independent performing arts scene is getting a deep dive with Spielraum, a festival built with the community rather than curated for it. Across neighbourhood centres, punk clubs, shopping centres and other unconventional venues, expect workshops, open rehearsals, forum theatre, circus jams and more. All designed to bring audiences closer to the artists and spaces shaping the city’s scene.

• Various locations. Through to Sep 21. 

FORM FUTURE International Design Conference

DESIGN Forget your average design conference. FORM FUTURE puts design under the microscope, asking how it can shape business, society and politics rather than simply make things look pretty. Expect big ideas, fresh perspectives and plenty of discussion about how design can connect brands, products and people, and maybe even change the world while it’s at it. Best of all, it’s totally free. 

• Tempelhof Airport. Starts at 9:30.  

Swamp Fest

FESTIVAL A full weekend of decadent sludge rock, doom and stoner metal awaits those who dare. With over 25 bands across three stages, Swamp Fest brings the very best in ear-bleeding noise to the deepest, darkest corner of Friedrichshain. With confirmed headliners French post-metal icon Psychonaut, along with a whole bunch of internationally renowned doom, desert and swamp rock titans, Neue Zukunft promises to be a quagmire of sludge and destitution for the long weekend. So grab your ear protection, cut some holes in your jeans and wash your hair (if you still have any), for this is going to be one long, soul-affirming noise festival.

• Neue Zukunft. Through to Sep 12.

World AI Film Festival

FESTIVAL Well, it was bound to happen eventually. Making its Berlin debut, the World AI Film Festival unites filmmakers, artists and technologists to explore one of cinema’s most hotly debated frontiers. Love it, hate it, tin foil hat it, AI is here. The festival positions itself between storytelling and emerging technology, pairing AI-generated and AI-assisted films with keynote talks, workshops and panel discussions, asking not whether artificial intelligence belongs in filmmaking, but how it might reshape it. The programme culminates in an awards ceremony celebrating some of the most innovative AI-powered films from around the world. You can always pop to Babylon afterwards for a revival of something great to remind yourself you’re okay. 

• Various venues. Through to Sep 11.  

11 FRI

Berliner Ensemble at Gemäldegalerie

GALLERY Ersan Mondtag and Nadim Samman’s Alternde Meister brings contemporary theatre into the museum. From what we can gather, there will be a lot of bare bottoms in front of Old Master paintings.

• Gemäldegalerie. Premiere on Sep 11, 19:00 & 20:30, then further stagings on Sep 12 & 13. 

The Velvet Creepers

STAGE Back in the spotlight with a brand new show, Vice and Ecstacy, Berlin’s queer cabaret tricksters The Velvet Creepers celebrate avant garde glamour and underground performance culture. They’ve even roped in UK cabaret legend and RuPaul’s Drag Race Contestant Joe Black as Master of Ceremonies. 

• Ballhaus Berlin. Through to Sep 12.

Ryuichi Sakamoto

ART This exhibition is the first major retrospective of composer and artist Ryuichi Sakamoto in Europe. Best known for his timeless electronic and experimental compositions, and maybe lesser known for his performance, visual art and film, this prolific artist redefined boundaries and worked in multiple genres. The exhibition honours his career presenting seven works in five large-scale installations. 

• Hamburger Bahnhof. Through to Jun 20, 2027. 

Marlo Grosshardt

MUSIC Bringing nostalgic melodies, powerful pop hooks and provocative lyrics to Huxleys, Grosshardt is a native Hamburger touring his new album Bildet Benden. Expect a live show of epic proportions. 

• Huxleys. Starts 19:00. 

Soft Power Festival

FESTIVAL As a part of Berlin Art Week, this three day festival brings together exhibitions, performances, concerts, DJ sets, conversations and shared meals into one open Gesamtkunstwerk. The title refers to the ability to exert influence through culture, values and persuasion, rather than through coercion or economic pressure. This year there will also be a 72-hour radio programme to further push their message. 

• Haus der Visionaire. Through to Sep 13.

Halal Food Festival 

FOOD With food vendors as diverse as their community, the Halal Food Festival celebrates culture and food for all. Discover 32 Halal cuisines from around the world and try out the curated vendors at the event. From German, English, Chinese, and Persian food vendors, there will be something for all to enjoy. 

• Jules B Part. Through to Sep 13.

12 SAT

Asad Raza at E-WERK

OPENING The best antidote to BAW clutter lies in Luckenwalde, where Asad Raza takes over E-WERK’s former power station. Reimagining electricity as something bodily rather than infrastructural, he uses the site’s turbines, engine rooms and self-generated Kunststrom to turn power into atmosphere. The opening features conductor-led tours, a performance by Tati au Miel and a film programme across the 10,000-square-metre complex.

• E-WERK Luckenwalde. Through to Apr 24, 2027

Artist Talk: Giulia Andreani

TALK Museums are always trying to find ways of remixing their permanent collections, but this one might actually work. Italian painter Giulia Andreani pulls from archival photographs and personal memorabilia, using her ghostly Payne’s Grey palette to stir up forgotten figures and buried tensions. Here, her paintings collide with objects from Berlin’s museum collections. This artist talk should raise questions around feminism, cinema, political amnesia and plenty of awkward ghosts refusing to stay politely in the past.

• Hamburger Bahnhof. Starts 12:00.

Internet Explorer 

THEATRE Digital artist Theresa Reiwer returns to HAU creating a walk-in installation and performance space reminiscent of an internet cafe. Using video and mini-games, the audience will move in groups of five using a speculative AI tour guide and operating system to experience our digital present and past online moments. The work speaks to the themes of power, platforms and participation within and beyond the WWW. 

• HAU3. Through to Sep 23.

Kuyum Tanzplattform 

STAGE Creating a space for Afrcian artists and non-African artists that incorporate African movement languages into their artistic practice, this festival opens up new artistic perspectives on body, movement and identity.

• Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) from Sep 12-13. Uferstudios Sep 16-20. 

Open Heritage Day

ART With over 300 venues open to the public, this European wide event aims to incentivise people to learn about the importance and the preservation of our monuments and buildings to gain an interest in the history that surrounds us. Berlin’s highlights include the Bauhaus Archive, Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf and Behaim-Schwarzbach House. 

• Various locations, Starts 09:30. 

Festival of Giant Kites

FESTIVAL Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a kite! It’s hundreds of kites! The annual kite festival at Templehofer Feld fills the sky with colourful characters. There will be food and drinks, kite performances and a small firework display to round off the evening. 

• Templehofer Feld. Starts 11:00. 

Transgressive Memory Festival 

FESTIVAL What do we remember, and how do we remember it? Looking at how the past is memorised, documented and contested, this festival uses media art, performance and critical discourse to challenge how the past is told, and by whom. 

• silent green Kulturquartier Berlin. Through to Sep 13.

Renate 19th birthday

CLUB For nearly two decades Berlin institution Renate has give clubbers a dancefloor to call home. Following the possible closure just months ago, the club is now celebrating its 19th birthday and throwing a massive party that includes 7 floors of music and 66 hours of partying.   

• Renate. Through to Sep 15.

36th Bienal de São Paulo, Berlin Edition

EXHIBITION The new exhibition Not All Travellers Walk Roads—Of Humanity as Practice, brings the 36th Bienal de São Paulo to Berlin for the first time. Across performance, installations, story-telling and spatial interventions the exhibition will rethink humanity as a verb. 

• Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW). Through to Dec 06.

Something Terrible Will Happen: The Cannibal Woman

STAGE During Berlin Art Week, artist Sophia Süßmilch will premiere Something Terrible Will Happen: The Cannibal Woman at HAU1. The work explores repressed female rage that Süßmilch and her co-performers are ready to unleash: “As a kid, I got punished when I showed anger,” she told me, but by slapping on the war paint and leaning into the archetype of the evil clown, Süßmilch channels her idiosyncratic creative force into a gloriously unapologetic performance that refuses to play by the rules. 

• HAU1. Through to Sep 16.

Kinofest

If you’ve been meaning to visit one of Berlin’s independent cinemas but never quite found the excuse, this is the weekend. At €5 per film, it’s one of the cheapest weekends of cinema-going all year. Many Berlin arthouses use the weekend to showcase upcoming releases alongside previews and special screenings in a citywide celebration of cinema.

• Various cinemas. Through to Sep 13.

13 SUN

International Stone Skimming Tournament

FESTIVAL If you think you’ve got a good arm, come join in at the German Titscher Championship. See some of the world’s finest skimmers and sign up to give them a run for their money. Teams of four are also an option. The winners of the Berlin Titscher Masters 2026 automatically qualify for the World Stone Skimming Championship 2027 in Scotland on Easdale Island. 

• Freischwimmer (Kreuzberg). Starts 11:00.

15 TUE

Berliner Demokratietag

DEMO With the motto “One month for all – democracy forever!”, the month- long series of events combines numerous Berlin organizations, initiatives and institutions. Their aim is to make democratic commitment visible and to hopefully spark new approaches to political and social participation.

• Various locations. Through to Sep 30.

16 WED

LEAR

LEAR will premier at Hangar 4, a disused aircraft hangar inside Tempelhof Airport repurposed into a theatre and concert hall. An opera in two parts, adapted by Aribert Reimannin in 1978, LEAR tells the story of an aging king who plans to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, with the lionshare going to the daughter who shows him the greatest love. As is typical with Shakespeare, the plan doesn’t really work out. Split into eleven scenes, the opera allows the drama to unfold simultaneously with the orchestra and vocalists on equal footing. 

• Sep 16-Oct 3, Komische Oper (Flughafen Tempelhof, Hangar 4), German with English surtitles. 

17 THU

Sound Metaphors Presents Drew McDowall

MUSIC The creative team behind Berlin’s edgiest record store has teamed up with one of the city’s best underground locations (yes, that one – next to the tracks at Jannowitzbrücke) for some rawkous new-wave electronica and granular techno. Headlining the event is Scottish pioneer and former Coil member Drew McDowall, who will be showcasing his live talent for meditative and hallucinatory art-punk and electro-acoustic. Joining him for the journey will be local sound-auteur Rashad Becker, atmospheric sonic-artist Temple Rat, plus techno and psychedelic DJs Bill Kougilas and Transmigration founder David Fogarty.

• Sep 17, Secret location.

VOX HUMANA

OPERA What can be done with the human voice? That’s exactly the question a group of Ukrainian artists are asking. To show thanks for Germany’s air defence systems and political support during the war, the group wants to help Germany create a winning entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2027. If they succeed remains to be seen, but it does involve surreal soundscapes, folk songs and a techno ritual. 

• Neuköllner Oper. Through to Oct 18.

18 FRI

Rare Book Week Berlin 

BOOK FAIR You know how good it feels to hold a really old book in your hands? Imagine a whole hall full of the most antique, leather-bound tomes you can imagine. Celebrated booksellers are flying in for the occasion, like Peter Harrington Rare Books from London, whose highlights on view and for sale include the original 1927 UK premiere programme for Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and David Hockney’s illustrated edition of Six Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm. 

• Kronprinzenpalais. Through to Sep 20. 

Tattoo Convention Berlin 

FESTIVAL If you’re ready to get inked, the 34th Berlin Tattoo Convention is waiting for you. Featuring 300 international artists and vendors, a stage show and a tattoo competition, you’ll no doubt come home with a new tatt, and frankly why wouldn’t you. 

• Arena Berlin. Through to Sep 20.

Lilipad’s Untold Stories

FESTIVAL Refugee-centred library Lilipad is kicking off its children’s literature and storytelling festival, Untold Stories. At no cost, it welcomes all families – especially migrant, BIPoC and queer families – to this multilingual storytelling extravaganza. The programme includes a Turkish-language reading of Bir Sonbahar Öyküsü (An Autumn Story) by Ayşe Pınar Köprücü and a humorous reading by Regina Feldmann from Amma kann nicht einschlafen (Amma Can’t Fall Asleep). Expect a children’s book market, discussions, workshops, music, food and culinary storytelling. 

• Refugio, Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek and Spore Initiative. Through to Sep 20.  

19 SAT

SALVATION (Glitter Doesn’t Care I’m a Boy)

Returning to English Theatre Berlin for its 10th anniversary, SALVATION (Glitter Doesn’t Care I’m a Boy) is a science-fiction drag ritual by Shlomi Moto Wagner. The stage show shines a spotlight on queer creativity and collectivity at a time when the queer community needs it the most. Following a sold-out Berlin run in 2017 (with revivals in 2022 and 2024), the international touring schedule has included dates at Copenhagen Opera Festival and Lila Queer Festival in Zurich. Shlomi Moto Wagner told us, “The show is a queer ritual for imagining a better world together, and the more fractured things get out there, the more people seem to need that space to be reminded that tenderness and togetherness are still available to us”.

• English Theatre Berlin. Through to Sep 22.

DESIRE

STAGE Get your glad rags ready for a night of decadence. This gala cabaret night combines burlesque, classical music and acrobatics with confetti and champagne showers. Perhaps all at once. Dress to impress and prepare to be dazzled. 

• Ballhaus Berlin. Through to Sep 20.

Potato Festival in Dahlem 

FOOD Spend the day picking potatoes, really! The Potato Festival in Dahlem allows visitors to partake in the harvest and buy what they collect. The farm grows six potato varieties, from the popular organic classics to exceptionally rare varieties in colour and flavour. The restaurant on site will also spoil you with potato dishes. 

• Dahlem. Through to Sep 20.

20 SUN

Sigur Rós

Accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra and a choir, the Icelandic post-rock band will realise the true epic nature of their music on this outing. Bringing their latest album ÁTTA to life, the band has assembled some of the best classical musicians from their island to accompany them on one of their most ambitious tours to date. From sweeping overtures to epic melodies to cinematic scoring motifs and brutally epic riffs, the legendary band will express their dynamism and affinity for the grandiose in one of their biggest and boldest productions ever.

• Uber Eats Music Hall. Through to Sep 21.

24 THU

180 min with Sam Barker

Berghain resident Sam Barker has crafted a meticulous career treading the line between polyrhythmic, synthesised electronics and pulsing, analogue techno. Now, as the featured act in Zenner’s long-running 180 mins series, the British DJ gets to run the gamut of his audio repertoire, as he flaunts his technical dexterity for an extended live set. Expect a whole array of analogue synthesisers and drum machines. As part of the special performance, Barker will also showcase his new collaborative installation, Discrete Ensemble, which promises to explore new, immersive sonic boundaries.

• Zenner.

Doppelgänger/Doppelganger

This existential stage extravaganza sees the performers stuck in a continuous celebratory loop, in what can only be described as a surreal birthday party from hell. As the world around them starts to unravel and duplicate, they fall deeper and deeper into examining their existence – if only they could remember how. As memories arrive and dissipate, the revellers seek the audience’s help in navigating this personal maelstrom. They told us, “Every year we spend a week together thinking about future projects. We knew we were ready to make another audience interaction piece, but we wanted to take it further, blurring the lines of who is in control. Naomi Klein’s book Doppelgänger was on the table. The combination made sense to us.” The piece invites us to question our identity, particularly the notion of individuality. Are we really who and what we say we are? The concept of the doppelganger arrives as a device to confront and expand this notion of the self – and to hopefully save the party. 

• HAU2. Through to Sep 27.

25 FRI

Oktoberfest auf dem Alexanderplatz

FOOD Love it or loathe it, Oktoberfest is back, and there are plenty of opportunities to get your Bavarian fix around the city. At Alexanderplatz, expect live music, a beer garden, a Gaudi room and enough beer to keep the lederhosen swinging, plus Bavarian staples like Haxn, Brez’n and pork roast. There’s even a dirndl competition, with the evening’s best-dressed being crowned queen of the kiez.

• Alexanderplatz. Ends Oct 04. 

Kurdish Film Fest 

FILM The Kurdish Film Festival Berlin returns to Babylon for its 16th edition, bringing a diverse international programme of Kurdish cinema to the heart of Berlin. This year’s theme, “Kurds in the Soviet Union – Between Memory, Identity, Deportation and Renewal”, digs into stories of migration, cultural memory, identity and social change. 

• Kino Babylon. Through to Oct 01. 

26 SAT

Railway Festival 

FESTIVAL If you’re loco for locomotives, check out the annual Eisenbahnfest and explore 120 years of train history. View historic railways, take a ride on a steam train or learn about the tasks of a train driver from earlier times: choo choo!

• Bahnbetriebswerk Schöneweide. Through to Sep 27.

27 SUN

Berlin Marathon

SPORT Lace up, Berlin. One of the world’s biggest running events is back, with more than 40,000 runners from around 120 countries pounding the street. If running 42km sounds like your idea of hell, pick a spot along the route and cheer from the sidelines instead, with the Victory Column, Reichstag, Memorial Church and Potsdamer Platz among the prime viewing spots. 

• Straße des 17. Juni, between Brandenburger Tor and ‘Kleiner Stern’. Starts 9:15. 

The Sound of Courage Festival 

FESTIVAL Bringing Women’s voices to the forefront of their mini-festival. Sound of Courage is all about equality, and exploring the role music plays in Northern countries. This concert is an extension of the exhibition and includes performances from Sara Parkman, Vilma Jää and Lindy Fay. 

• Kesselhaus in der Kulturbrauerei. Starts 18:00. 

On Water 

EXHIBITION This is your last chase to get wet (not literally!) and dive into the deep end to explore the current exhibition **‘On Water: WasserWissen in Berlin’**. A series of research projects that deal with water from a wide range of perspectives. 

• Humboldt Lab, 1st Floor. Ends today.