BERLIN BURLESQUE FESTIVAL - NO. 14

As Germany’s first internationally renowned burlesque festival, the BBF has been bringing together newcomers and celebrated stars of the scene for years.

Each year, a cast is curated from over 500 video submissions from around the world, bringing together diversity, talent, skill, elegance, and that special something.

From Seoul to Berlin, from Toronto to Rome, from São Paulo to the spotlight: The Berlin Burlesque Festival 2026 brings together artists from Europe, North America, South America, Australia, and Asia—and showcases just how relevant, diverse, and artistically sophisticated modern burlesque is today.

A stage for values long before they became trends

Since its very first edition, the Berlin Burlesque Festival has stood for values that are now widely discussed under terms such as body positivity, diversity, inclusion, age diversity, queer visibility, and bodily self-determination. On this stage, these have never been mere marketing buzzwords, but lived reality.

Here, bodies are not judged but celebrated. Here, artists of diverse backgrounds, age groups, gender identities, body types, and life experiences take center stage. People with and without physical disabilities, international performers, queer artists,

newcomers, and legends share the stage—not as an exception, but as a matter of course.

This isn’t about lecturing. It’s about presence.

The Berlin Burlesque Festival shows what happens when freedom, craftsmanship, desire, humor, elegance, and poise come together. When glamour isn’t just superficial, but an expression of self-empowerment. When beauty isn’t standardized. When an evening at the theater can be entertainment, art, and social commentary all at once.