Performing Arts Festival Berlin (PAF)

Berlin Presents Itself

The Performing Arts Festival Berlin is the annual meeting point for the capital's independent performing arts scene. Since its first edition in 2016, LAFT Berlin has invited artists from dance, performance, spoken word theatre, circus, puppetry, children's theatre, and everything in between to showcase their current works within a city-wide festival framework.

The 8th Edition 2026

The 8th edition will take place from May 30 to June 4, 2026. The opening event will be held at Festsaal Kreuzberg on Flutgraben in Alt-Treptow, after which the program will spread across venues, studios, and independent performance spaces in almost all districts. Exact venues, schedules, and production selections will be successively published on the festival website and the program platform PAP Berlin (pap-berlin.de).

Successor to 100° Berlin

PAF was founded in 2016 as the successor to the festival 100° Berlin, which pursued the same goal for twelve years: to make the city's independent performing arts scene visible as a whole. The festival is organized by the association for independent performing arts Berlin (LAFT Berlin), an advocacy group founded in 1995.

More Than Just Performances

In addition to productions, PAF traditionally includes discourse formats, networking opportunities, audience discussions, and – aimed at the younger generation – workshops and festival internships. The festival is therefore also important in terms of professional policy: it highlights what artists in Berlin's independent scene live on and creates encounters between venues, programmers, and funders.

Location and District

The main venue for the opening is Festsaal Kreuzberg at Flutgraben 2 in Alt-Treptow (District Treptow-Köpenick), with further locations spread across Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg, Mitte, Wedding, Neukölln, Prenzlauer Berg, Charlottenburg, and Schöneberg. Berlin, State of Berlin.