Events and festivals in Berlin on the weekend of October 10-11, 2026: the Festival of Lights bathes around 80 landmarks in light, with a regatta on the Spree, salsa by a lake and a family night.
It starts in front of the State Opera on Bebelplatz. Here the Festival of Lights shows its large-scale projections, starting on Friday, October 9, 2026, and running until October 18. Events and festivals in Berlin on the weekend of October 10-11, 2026: the Festival of Lights bathes around 80 landmarks in light, with a regatta on the Spree, salsa by a lake and a family night.
Light art from the State Opera to Potsdamer Platz
The Festival of Lights has been at home in Berlin since 2005 and presents its 22nd edition in 2026. Around 80 landmarks, squares and buildings turn into walk-through artworks, with the city itself as the screen. The festival is held under the patronage of Berlin's Governing Mayor.
Every year, invited international light artists develop pieces made specifically for Berlin buildings. They project videos and animations onto the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin Cathedral and Charlottenburg Palace. The works often take up the history of the place, at the Brandenburg Gate the reunification, for instance.
The hotspots for years have been Bebelplatz, with large-scale projections onto the State Opera, Humboldt University and St. Hedwig's Cathedral, and Potsdamer Platz, where numerous individual installations appear on the high-rise facades.
Admission to all installations in public space is free.
The hotspots are busy once darkness falls. Anyone who wants to cover them all on foot from Saturday, 10.10.2026, should plan at least two evenings, and anyone bringing a tripod is better off arriving early.
From the Spree to Spandau
The long-distance regatta Quer durch Berlin, first held in 1927, reaches its 97th edition on Saturday, 10.10.26. Hundreds of boats start in waves on the Spree between 9am and 8pm, start and finish are at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, and watching costs nothing. For the 125th anniversary of the Chorverband Berlin, choirs sing on Saturday on the forecourt of the Nikolai church in Spandau and on Sunday at Domäne Dahlem, both concerts belong to the Chorverband Berlin concert series and are free.
The Long Night of Families opens theatres, libraries, family centres and neighbourhood offices on October 10 with a programme of their own for families, coordinated by the Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family. Children aged 0 to 6 are the audience of FRATZ International, which in its eighth edition shows productions from Sweden, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and India from October 9 to 15.
In Wedding, the silent green cultural quarter, a former crematorium, and the City Kino Wedding show the 9th edition of the Festival of Animation Berlin until Sunday, October 11, with competitions in five categories. Around 30 shops in the Weitlingkiez in Lichtenberg lend their windows to the Kunstmeile im Weitlingkiez, which ends its 13th edition on Sunday, and on Saturday a guided art tour starts at 11am at Münsterlandplatz. The Berlin Food Week runs until the same Sunday, with the House of Food at Bikini Berlin and restaurant specials in more than 70 Berlin venues.
Dancers from more than 30 countries meet at the Berlin Salsa Festival from October 9 to 12 at the Embassade, a new venue right on a Berlin lake, and on Saturday the gala night takes place. In the festival tent at the Spandau Citadel, live bands and folk costume orchestras play at the Spandau Oktoberfest, with pork knuckle and half a roast chicken on the table, and the tent is open on Saturday for guests aged 18 and over.
Guided tours of the Festival of Lights by bus, boat and on foot cost extra and can be booked via festival-of-lights.de.