WEIRDWAVES Festival

Two Days of Underground in Friedrichshain

WEIRDWAVES celebrates what has defined Berlin for many over the last two decades: a unique, queer, post-punk, art-loving subculture that asserts itself against mainstream and gentrification. The festival takes place on Friday, May 29th, and Saturday, May 30th, 2026 at Cassiopeia – one of the most well-known clubs on the RAW-Gelände, the infamous Friedrichshain subculture island between Revaler Straße and Warschauer Brücke.

Post-Punk, Synth-Wave, Avant-Garde

The lineup represents the festival's programmatic breadth: Post-Punk and Synth-Wave form the musical core, complemented by Drone, Industrial, EBM, and experimental acts. Playing on three stages are, among others, Totenwald, Ostbahnhof, Cíern, Testrogona, Fessa, Oberst Panizza, Isolationsgemeinschaft, and Elektrokohle. The concerts are combined with drag performances, visual arts, photography, and film installations.

FOR THE RIGHT TO BE WEIRD

"FOR THE RIGHT TO BE WEIRD" – this is how the festival summarizes its own mission: gender-positive, inclusive, accessible. WEIRDWAVES explicitly sees itself as a platform for queer and non-binary artists and crews, for DIY-punk structures, and for spaces that resist the logic of pure profitability. The festival is supported by Musicboard Berlin, the city's funding body for the pop music scene.

Friedrichshain and the RAW-Gelände

The RAW-Gelände in Friedrichshain – Reichsbahnausbesserungswerk (Railway Repair Works) – has been one of Berlin's most important subculture sites since the late 1990s: clubs, art spaces, a skate park, bars, street art, and the constant threat of redevelopment. Cassiopeia is one of the defining venues and fits the WEIRDWAVES concept like few other places in the city.