July 14-20: Forecast Festival, Lesbian and Gay City Festival, Jazz Festival, and more!
Things to do in Berlin - Week of July 14!
Our Summer Get-Together is sold out! Thanks for getting tickets and for your support. We can’t wait to see you all this Friday.
On a personal note, I spent last week in Sicily, moving through different cities across the island. Although I enjoyed plenty of sun, seafood, and the beach, I'm very happy to be back in Berlin, because nowhere feels like home!
What’s in store for you this week:
🎛️ UNCLOUDED
🎵 Forecast Festival 2026
🎨 Open Days at the Berlin University of the Arts
🏳🌈 Lesbian and Gay City Festival 2026
🎷 The Zig Zag Jazz Festival 2026
🖼️ HTW Werkschau 2026
👨🦲 Berlin Bald Together
🍣 893 Ryōtei Japanese Restaurant
📅 Spotlight - Sponsors & Partners
❤️ Create & Date by Kiez Date & The Craft Hub: Still swiping? Join for a creative dating afternoon on 18 July (hetero, 30-45) and make connections over easy crafts — think polymer clay, little letters, and portraits. Register online.
🌟 This could be your EVENT. Want to promote it? Submit it here.
🎫 This Week’s Giveaways
We have 2 tickets to ❤️ Create & Date by Kiez Date & The Craft Hub for two subscribers (one Woman, one Man). To enter the raffle, hit the ❤️ button (top or bottom of this email/post) and send an email to this email address with the subject line “KIEZ DATE”.
⭐ Winners will be announced by Wednesday and selected from those who both liked ❤️ this post and sent an email. They will be notified directly via email.
1. UNCLOUDED
Neue Nationalgalerie turns its regular terrace bar into a themed evening called Unclouded. Circadian offers rare Japanese teas, while the DJ collective Sound Metaphors handles the music for the evening. The event runs from 5 to 10pm and leans into a relaxed, after-work mood built around a good sunset. More info.
💵 Free
📅 16 Jul (Thu), 17:00 - 22:00
2. Forecast Festival 2026
Forecast, an international mentoring program for emerging artists, presents the results of this year's cohort over four days. Six nominees show new performances, installations, and film works alongside their mentors throughout the building, with workshops and discussion formats rounding out the schedule. More info.
💵 €30
📅 16 Jul (Thu) - 19 Jul (Sun)
3. Open Days at the Berlin University of the Arts
The Berlin University of the Arts opens its studios, workshops, and rehearsal rooms to the public for three days at the end of the academic year. Visitors can explore work from the university's four faculties, Fine Arts, Design, Music, and Performing Arts, plus the Berlin Career College. More info.
💵 Free
📅 17 Jul (Fri) - 19 Jul (Sun)
4. Lesbian and Gay City Festival 2026
The 32nd Lesbian and Gay City Festival is happening this weekend and is expected to draw several hundred thousand visitors over two days. Six stages carry music from German and international acts spanning most genres, while separate zones cover film, sports, politics, and health and wellness alongside information stalls, beer gardens, and cocktail bars. This year's motto is "Equal Rights for the Unequal, worldwide". More info.
💵 Free
📅 18 Jul (Sat) - 19 Jul (Sun)
5. The Zig Zag Jazz Festival 2026
A new jazz series brings international names to Berlin's Gasometer Schöneberg for eleven nights between July 20 and August 1. The lineup includes Dee Dee Bridgewater, Till Brönner, Al Di Meola, and others, alongside young musicians from the Jazz Institute Berlin. Food trucks and drinks are onsite, and a rooftop program called Sky Jazz Sessions adds late sets with views over the city. The program.
💵 €17.5+
📅 20 Jul (Mon) - 01 Aug (Sat)
Submitted Event
6. HTW Werkschau 2026
HTW Berlin's School of Culture and Design opens its Wilhelminenhof campus for its annual Werkschau, with more than 1,500 students presenting work from communication design, fashion, industrial design, museology, and several other programs. The two days bring over 50 presentations, installations, guided tours, and open workshops covering digital prototyping, screen printing, and model making, alongside standout projects. More info.
💵 Free
📅 17 Jul (Fri) - 18 Jul (Sat)
7. Berlin Bald Together
A casual meetup called Berlin Bald Together gathers bald people, and anyone else who wants to join, at Görlitzer Park on July 18 for an afternoon of games and contests. The event leans into humor around baldness as its central theme, with the invite explicitly welcoming people with hair too. More info.
💵 Free
📅 18 Jul (Sat), 14:00
Restaurant Suggestion:
893 Ryōtei Japanese Restaurant (⭐4/5)
This is a famous Japanese restaurant in West Berlin that, from the outside, looks like a rundown, trashy place (which is intentional). However, inside, the atmosphere is laid back and stylish. It’s not quite fine dining, but more like casual fine dining, although the prices definitely lean in that direction. The place was packed on a Thursday night, so reservations are a must. They have an open kitchen, and we chose to sit at the counter to watch the chefs at work. Our waitress was extremely friendly, and the service throughout the evening was excellent.
The food was a bit hit and miss, especially considering the price. The tuna tartare was very underwhelming and didn’t have much flavor. The sushi was pretty good, but expensive, with each piece costing around €7-€8. The tostada with caviar was very nice. The beef tartare was also underwhelming, as it had too much mayo and several fatty pieces of meat. The aubergine appetizer with ponzu sauce was tasty. The fried rice on the side was also good, and the cold noodles were an interesting touch, almost like a palate cleanser and a little filler between dishes. They have a wide selection of drinks. We skipped the cocktails since restaurant cocktails are usually expensive for what they are. Instead, we went for wine, and it was nice to see they had a good selection of mid-range wines by the glass. In restaurants like this, wine prices are often much more outrageous.
Overall, if you haven’t been, it’s worth trying once just to tick it off the list. That said, I still think November in P-Berg is the better choice. Expect to spend around €80 per person, including a glass of wine.
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