KeNaKo – Africa Festival Berlin

Berlin's Largest Africa Festival

The KeNaKo Africa Festival has been organized by Afrika Medien Zentrum e.V. in Berlin for over a decade and is one of the most renowned Africa festivals in German-speaking countries. The name KeNaKo comes from isiZulu and means "that's it" – a call to make African reality visible in its diversity, beyond media clichés.

Content and Themes

The festival combines three dimensions that rarely come together in one place in Berlin:

• Culture – Live concerts with musicians from across the continent and the African diaspora, dance performances, theatre
• Market – curated market with arts and crafts, fashion, cosmetics, jewellery, and culinary specialties from all regions of Africa
• Education and Debate – workshops, readings, film screenings, and panels as part of the Global Learning project; topics range from post-colonialism and climate justice to conflict dynamics

New Location: Washingtonplatz

Since 2025, the festival has been held at Washingtonplatz directly at Berlin Central Station – one of the most central squares in the city between Mitte and Tiergarten. This gives KeNaKo significantly higher visibility than at previous locations on Alexanderplatz and consciously reaches passers-by who are not specifically travelling for an Africa festival.

Political Orientation

KeNaKo explicitly sees itself as a political festival. The focus is on annually changing priorities concerning the relations between the Global North and Africa: post-colonial heritage, climate, migration, conflicts, and their colonial roots. The festival is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and other institutions.

Free and Open

Admission is free. This makes KeNaKo particularly accessible and is visited multiple times by many Berliners over ten days.