Berlin Berlin 10719
Germany
T +49 30 26397100
info@berlinerfestspiele.de
The Berliner Festspiele, celebrating their 75th anniversary in 2026, organise a diverse programme of festivals, art exhibitions, concerts, dance and theatre performances, readings, lectures, debates and more throughout the year. Events take place across Berlin, with a primary focus on their two main venues: the Gropius Bau and the Haus der Berliner Festspiele.
The Berliner Festspiele’s evolution is strongly interwoven with the changing history of Berlin, Germany and the world at large. They were founded in 1951 under the name Berliner Festwochen as a “shop window onto the free West” and are now a platform for outstanding contemporary art from all over the world. This year the Berliner Festspiele celebrate their 75th anniversary, programming a selection of events themed to mark the anniversary at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele and the Gropius Bau as well as other venues and public spaces. The agenda is set by outstanding German and international artists who transcend genre boundaries.
The Berliner Festspiele have invited the Japanese artist Akira Takayama to create a project on Berlin’s Ringbahn (circle railway) that reimagines unrealised artistic and urban planning ideas. Reflexes & Reflections, curated by Saba-Nur Cheema und Meron Mendel, returns with prominent guests and current social debates, and the Performing Arts Season presents Marina Abramović’s Balkan Erotic Epic. The Stage Version, a work in which the performance icon transforms Balkan myths into a visceral ritual of body, shame and life force. Balkan Erotic Epic. The Exhibition will be on display at the Gropius Bau starting in April.
Musikfest Berlin celebrates the Berliner Festspiele’s anniverary with a performance of György Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre in its opening concert on 28 August. The festival’s programme also includes composers long associated with the Berliner Festspiele, including Hans Werner Henze, Wolfgang Rihm and Igor Stravinsky. Musikfest Berlin also references its own history in presenting George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, whose German premiere took place in Berlin in 1952 as part of the second Berliner Festwochen.
March 20–29, 2026
MaerzMusik invites visitors into a space where listening has long been a way of being together. Klangforum Wien opens the festival with Georg Friedrich Haas’s monumental piece 11,000 Strings – a microtonal work expanding the senses.
May 1–17, 2026
Theatertreffen is one of the most significant theatre festivals in the German‑speaking region. Each year, it presents the ten most remarkable productions of the past season, selected by a jury of seven critics. The festival also highlights contemporary playwriting and discourse.
August 27–30, 2026
Reflexes & Reflections – the Berliner Festspiele’s format for exploring individual themes – aims to create open and controversial spaces for discussion in times of increasing polarisation, bringing together divergent artistic and discursive perspectives to negotiate social problems and contentious issues.
August 28–September 23, 2026
Musikfest Berlin, produced in co-operation with the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation, presents large-scale orchestras and ensembles in the genre of classical and modern music. This year, the festival hosts symphony orchestras and choirs from Finland, Spain, England, South Africa, the USA, Austria, Germany and Switzerland.
October 29–November 1, 2026
Jazzfest Berlin presents a festival programme full of creative border-crossings and collective visions, presenting both style-defining icons of jazz and young artists working in a wide variety of styles.
October, 2026–January, 2027
The Performing Arts Season presents a range of outstanding international dance, theatre and performance productions – this year starting with Marina Abramović’s Balkan Erotic Epic. The Stage Version in October at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele.
The Treffen junge Szene are aimed at young artists between the ages of 11 and 21 who are active in the fields of theatre, dance, music and literature. The meetings of the winners in Berlin present the artistic work of the young generation and are an opportunity for exchange, further development and self-reflection.
Visit here for the Gropius Bau Annual Programme.
