BB SLAM – Berlin-Brandenburg Poetry Slam Championships

Four Days, Three Semi-Finals, One Final

The BB SLAM brings together the best poetry slam poets from Berlin and Brandenburg. The competition format is classic: ten slam poets perform in each semi-final, with the top three finishers qualifying for the final. In the grand showdown on Saturday evening in the rbb Great Broadcast Hall, nine solo artists will battle for the regional championship title. The top 5 will then proceed to the German-language championships in Hannover.

Four Venues Across the Region

Semi-final 1 takes place in the legendary SO36 on Oranienstraße – one of Berlin's oldest punk and subculture clubs, which has become one of the city's most important slam stages in recent years. Semi-final 2 is held at Waschhaus Potsdam, the central alternative cultural center of the Brandenburg state capital – consciously making the second half of the Berlin-Brandenburg identity visible. Semi-final 3 will be staged at freiheit fünfzehn in Neukölln. The final on Saturday, March 7th, will be held in the Great Broadcast Hall of Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg at Masurenallee 8–14 in Charlottenburg – a concert hall with over 800 seats, where classical concerts and live radio broadcasts are usually produced.

Berlin as the Capital of Stage Poetry

With over 200 slams per year, Berlin is unrivaled in the German-speaking world. From small pub slams in Friedrichshain to large stage shows in Festsaal Kreuzberg, from the queer U20 format to open mic sessions – the scene is deep, diverse, and internationally networked. The BB SLAM marks its annual champions' meeting and serves as a career springboard for many who later tour nationwide. The Berlin-Brandenburg cooperation is programmatic: both federal states share the scene, tour routes, and audience, and the championship solidifies this connection every year.

Language as Competition

Those who attend the BB SLAM experience a concentration of contemporary spoken-word literature that few other events in Germany offer: political texts, autobiographical pieces, comedy slams, queer poetry, multilingual performances. Judging is done by an audience jury from the hall – a procedure that the BB SLAM has perfected over years with high dramatic tension. The Champion 2026 is Lisa Pauline Wagner.