Berlin’s Pop-Kultur Festival expands to week-long city-wide residency for 2026

The festival, which runs from 24-30 August, will open in Wedding with talks and emerging talent showcases before shifting to Kreuzberg and Prenzlauer Berg across the week. The expanded structure follows the success of last year’s decentralised programme, which saw the event spread across multiple venues rather than a single site .

“2025 showed that the Pop-Kultur Festival is at its strongest when we collaborate with partners and turn a wide range of Berlin locations into part of the festival,” explains Marie von der Heydt, Festival Director and Managing Director of Musicboard Berlin. “Silent green and the surrounding venues are perfect for the musical opening and the first ‘Commissioned Works’, for the diverse talk programme and our emerging talent hub. Festsaal Kreuzberg complements the programme as a central venue for the label market and additional formats. Kulturbrauerei remains the heart of our live programme over the weekend.”

The live programme kicks off on 26 August at silent green’s Betonhalle. LA-via-NYC artist Ray Lozano opens with R’n’B-inflected storytelling, followed by recent Best Fit cover star Avalon Emerson & the Charm, whose work has shifted from club-focused production towards art pop and electronica-informed songwriting. Bar Italia close the evening with a high-energy set drawing on post-punk, shoegaze and indie rock .

Further confirmations for the Kulturbrauerei weekend programme include The Notwist, who arrive with a new album; Rosa Anschütz, whose work traces a path from techno-avant-garde roots into art-pop territories; and Sophia Kennedy presenting material from across her indie pop catalogue, including songs in German.

The festival continues to position itself as a platform for emerging voices. Jassin, originally from Saxony-Anhalt, brings lyric-driven cloud rap shaped by personal conflict and contemporary social realities; Layla Boe, whose work moves between R’n’B, electronic music and rap, also joins theline-up following her contribution to the remix of Nina Chuba’s “Rage Girl”, which won Best Song in the Pop category at the POLYTON Music Award 2026.

Following its 2025 launch, the Sonic Crossings initiative returns for a second edition in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut’s music division. The 2026 programme shifts focus to pop music expressions from Central Asia and musicians from across the region will be invited to Berlin for a short residency in August, with concerts, listening sessions and discussion formats taking place during the festival – all free of charge.

Regular ticket sales for multi-day passes began on 15 April, with options including Talks-All-In, Live-All-In and Weekend-All-In passes. Day passes go on sale on 28 April .