This weekend, pumpkins, skeletons, zombies and witches will transform the city into a centre of ghoulishness. There are Halloween events as far as the eye can see, but of course that's not all. Board the Titanic, enjoy world-class music at Jazzfest Berlin and laugh your head off with Berlin's favourite magician duo. A diverse weekend in the shiveringly beautiful autumn!
Tip 1: Marvel at the art of the future at the Neue Nationalgalerie
The beginnings of the Festival of Future Nows date back a little over ten years. The first edition was launched in 2014 as the final event of Ólafur Elíasson's degree programme for spatial experiments at the UdK. Since then, the festival has quickly made a name for itself and explores new approaches to interdisciplinary, experimental art every year.
This year's edition will take place at the Neue Nationalgalerie and showcase the perspectives of around one hundred international artists. You can expect unique performances, sound works and participatory installations, all of which pose a question about our future: How will we live tomorrow and what forms of coexistence are possible?
When: Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm
Where: Neue Nationalgalerie, Potsdamer Straße 50, Tiergarten
Tip 2: Experience animated objects in the Schaubude
Just in time for Halloween, previously inanimate objects come to life at the Schaubude . The international Theatre of Things festival invites you to rethink the boundaries between man, machine and material. Under this year's motto Autonomous Objects, artists from all over the world will show how a wide variety of objects detach themselves from their creators and open up their own scope for action.
In 18 productions, installations and workshops, you will encounter robots, dolls and other hybrid beings that dance, speak or seem to think for themselves ... Look forward to a stimulating Halloween weekend in the footsteps of Frankenstein!
When: Friday, Saturday and Sunday
Where: Schaubude Berlin, Greifswalder Straße 81-84, Pankow and five other venues
Tip 3: Celebrate the Halloween weekend Berlin-style
On the spookiest weekend of the year, Berlin has all the ingredients to give you goosebumps. On Halloween and the days surrounding the Ghost Festival, you can visit events all over the city that will give you the creeps. While witches, ghosts and zombies of all ages are expected in the Britzer Garten for a family-friendly Halloween in the park, Halloween in the Kulturbrauerei is a little wilder. Berlin's biggest Halloween party takes place here with over 35 DJs, 18 floors and a huge variety of costumes.
However, the most international and culturally impressive spectacle around the last weekend in October takes place at the Humboldt Forum. The Fiesta de Día de Muertos, the Mexican festival of the dead, is celebrated here from Friday to Sunday. So the choice is shockingly large!
When: Friday, Saturday and Sunday
Where: Various venues throughout Berlin
Tip 4: Listen to international music greats at the Jazzfest Berlin 2025
Our next tip doesn't promise scary stories, but top-class jazz music. But even that will give you goosebumps at Jazzfest Berlin. The cult festival, which has been established in Berlin since the 1960s, is entering its next round this weekend with over 120 musicians from more than 20 countries.
Under the motto "Where Will You Run When the World's on Fire?", you are invited to discover the many facets of jazz with a critical eye and an open ear: from free improvisation and electronic beats to lyrical sounds, hip-hop and noise. You can expect German and European premieres by big names as well as concerts by experimental newcomers.
When: Friday, Saturday and Sunday
Where: Various venues throughout Berlin
Tip 5: Become part of an AI choir at the Starmirror Training Performance
As part of the Starmirror exhibition, KW Institute for Contemporary Art will be transformed into an experimental recording studio this Sunday. In the main hall of the museum, artists Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst are organising their Starmirror Training Performance and invite you to become part of an extraordinary experiment at the interface of music and technology.
Together with the chamber choir of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, you will sing hymns from a specially developed songbook inspired by Hildegard von Bingen's Ordo Virtutum. With the help of the recordings, the Berlin KI Choir will be created and premièred in Düsseldorf. Take advantage of this rare opportunity to immortalise yourself in art!
When: Sunday from 4 to 5 pm
Where: KW Institute for Contemporary Art main hall, Auguststraße 69, Mitte
Tip 6: Get on board the TITANIC - lifeboat guaranteed
On Friday, a spectacular journey back in time to 1912 begins in the Metropolis Hall at Filmpark Babelsberg, more precisely on board the sunken RMS Titanic. Over 200 original artefacts from the wreck of the sunken giant await you in TITANIC - The Exhibition. You can also marvel at life-size reconstructions such as the iconic staircase and passenger gangways as well as a real iceberg.
The exhibition takes you into a sunken world: entire first and third class rooms are open to you. When you enter the exhibition, you will receive a boarding pass and thus the identity of a real passenger from that time. Experience the splendour, everyday life and catastrophe of this legendary maiden voyage first-hand - fortunately for you with a happy ending!
When: Friday from 10 am
Where: Metropolis Halle at Filmpark Babelsberg, Großbeerenstraße 200, Potsdam
Tip 9: Marvel at the diversity of the animal world at the Natural History Museum
The Museum of Natural History has some pretty old bones on display: the T-Rex Tristan Otto is now 66 million years old. The 12 metre long giant was discovered fifteen years ago in the Hell Creek Formation in the US state of Montana. In addition to the dinosaur skeletons, many other large and small treasures await you in the imposing museum building from the early 20th century, as well as an exciting permanent exhibition on migratory birds. And with the time slot ticket, you can even avoid queuing at the ticket office - the ideal place for a weekend trip that will amaze the whole family!
When: Friday from 9.30 am to 6 pm, Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm
Where: Museum of Natural History, Invalidenstraße 43, Mitte
Tip 8: Take a look in the mirror at Ballhaus Naunynstraße
With As I Want, New York dancer and choreographer Ashley Temba presents an impressive self-interrogation in dance form at Ballhaus Naunynstraße. In his portrait performance, he examines how identity is created - characterised by external influences, attributions and personal decisions. Temba uses dance as a language to visualise the complexity of the self. The stage of the Ballhaus becomes the mirror of a body that is constantly changing. Between strength and vulnerability, you will experience a choreography that raises questions about self-image, freedom and transformation - and encourages the audience to take these questions home with them.
When: Friday at 8 pm
Where: Ballhaus Naunynstraße, Naunynstraße 27, Kreuzberg
Tip 9: Travel to Las Vegas with Siegfried & Joy at the Punch L!ne Club
Siegfried and Roy are a glorious past. Siegfried and Joy are the hilarious present! With their unique, humorous circus shows, the Berlin magician duo brings glamour and illusion to life at the Punch L!ne Club: With Las Vegas, they present you with a programme full of amazing tricks, rousing humour and a pinch of casino glamour on Saturday evening. Their style: glitter suits, flashy sunglasses and a stage presence that not only inspires die-hard magic fans. Look forward to an evening of magical entertainment!
When: Saturday at 8 pm
Where: Punch L!ne Club Berlin, Marlene-Dietrich-Platz 1, Mitte
Tip 10: Experience the Olympiastadion in the best light
During the 90-minute light experience tour at the weekend, you will see the Olympic Stadium bathed in wonderful colours. Accompanied by two spectacular light shows and music, the computer-controlled roof lighting and the full-colour floodlights transform the stadium into a surreal sea of lights. You also get exclusive insights into otherwise closed areas such as the players' tunnel, the dressing rooms and the technical rooms. The tours are equally interesting for technology and sports fans. You will get to know the modern lighting technology and learn interesting stories about the historic stadium ensemble. Spot on!
When: Sunday at 6pm and 8pm
Where: Olympiastadion Berlin, Olympischer Platz 3, Westend
Tip 11: Scare yourselves to Nosferatu with the Babylon Orchestra Berlin
What better way to round off the Halloween weekend than with Nosferatu? And we're not talking about the current hit film by Robert Eggers, but the original from 1922: Nosferatu - A Symphony of Horror is one of the most influential silent films of the genre and a true classic. Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau's visionary direction and Max Schreck's portrayal of the blood-sucking count are still impressive today. Nosferatu arrives in Germany by ship as a sinister plague - and he hungers for blood. Only the sacrifice of a beautiful woman can defeat Nosferatu. Make yourself comfortable in the impressive Babylon Berlin auditorium and let yourself be transported into the realm of horror stories with original music by Hans Erdmann, performed by the Babylon Orchester Berlin.
When: Saturday at 7 pm
Where: Babylon Berlin, Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße 30, Mitte
