Across Berlin, the weekend of October 3, 2026 brings dozens of events and festivals: the Karlshorst trotting track turns into the city's biggest flea market, alongside a pumpkin festival, an Oktoberfest and harvest fairs.
Around the pines of the Karlshorst trotting track in Berlin-Lichtenberg stretches a site of roughly 200,000 square metres. There, one of the capital's biggest flea markets opens for the 3-4 October 2026 weekend. Across Berlin, the weekend of October 3, 2026 brings dozens of events and festivals: the Karlshorst trotting track turns into the city's biggest flea market, alongside a pumpkin festival, an Oktoberfest and harvest fairs.
The Biggest Flea Market in Berlin, at Karlshorst
At the Karlshorst trotting track, the oldest surviving trotting track in Germany, the dealer oldthing runs Berlin's biggest flea market on the weekend of October 3, 2026. Over 700 exhibitors set up their stalls across the entire site, turning it into a single trading ground from Friday through Sunday. From the main grandstand to the outer lawns, the offer stretches across the whole grounds of the historic racetrack.
The grandstand hall hosts the design exchange, with furniture and household objects from past decades, from Bauhaus pieces to Danish post-war design, priced on average 30 to 50 percent below the city centre. On the lawns outside, East German memorabilia sit next to antiques and vintage furniture: record players from the RFT factory, Sandmännchen figures, pioneer scarves and Trabant models change hands between the many tables.
The beer garden adds Oktoberfest music to the holiday mood. Saturday, October 3, is a public holiday across Germany, German Unity Day, and the flea market even carries it in its own name. A day ticket costs around 5 euros, and the combined ticket for Friday evening and the whole weekend costs about 10 euros.
On Saturday, October 3, 2026, all roughly 700 stalls are open at once. Visitors who come on Friday evening find smaller crowds and a wider selection, since many stallholders still negotiate on price before packing up. The market closes on Sunday evening, after three days among the pines of the historic racetrack grounds in Berlin-Lichtenberg.
Fairs, Festivals and Stages Across the Boroughs
In Berlin-Schöneberg, the 27th edition of the Schöneberg pumpkin festival turns Akazienstraße into a pumpkin garden with over 10,000 pumpkins in around 20 varieties. Berlin Stadtservice and the Tempelhof-Schöneberg district office run the festival on Saturday from 11am to 9pm and on Sunday from 10am to 8pm, with a tasting of German wines, a stage program, rides for children and food stalls from pumpkin risotto to pumpkin spice latte, free of charge. At the city's oldest working farm museum, the Domäne Dahlem foundation holds its harvest festival, with a harvest wagon, a harvest crown, a regional market, tractor rides and a petting zoo for children. At Karl-August-Platz in Charlottenburg, around 80 exhibitors show crafts, design, regional products, food and wine around the Trinitatis church at the harvest art market, which the association Family & Friends e.V. organises specifically for the long German Unity Day weekend. It is open Saturday until 8pm and Sunday until 6pm.
At the Spandau Citadel, the Spandau Oktoberfest runs at the same time, its tent built every autumn by organiser Wollenschlaeger Event GmbH on the grounds of the historic fortress in Berlin-Haselhorst, with live bands, folk costume orchestras and Bavarian dishes such as pork knuckle and pretzels. The box office opens at 4pm, and entry is restricted to visitors aged 18 and over. On the same 16th-century fortress walls, the eighth edition of the juggling festival, scheduled specifically for the German Unity Day weekend, brings together international jugglers, acrobats and walk-acts, family-friendly and compactly curated. Entry to the citadel costs 4.50 euros, 2.50 euros at the reduced rate, and children under 14 get in free.
The Köpenick Autumn fills two stages for four days in the Luisenhain park next to Köpenick's town hall, with live music, a DJ program, street food, showmen, carousels and fire shows. At the Columbiahalle in Kreuzberg, the Unity 2026 festival closes its second and final night with sets from Northern Lite and Absurd Minds, combo tickets from 77.40 euros. Since 2019, the Panafrican Festival Berlin has given the African diaspora an open-air stage with concerts, dance, art installations, workshops and a food court. Wrapping up roughly two and a half weeks, the Muslim Cultural Week Berlin opens mosques, cultural centres and public spaces for exhibitions, concerts, readings and talks on October 4.