Welcome to the Dyke* Festival Berlin

Lula photographed festival-goers in a photobooth and sent portraits to participants afterwards. The photobooth ran throughout Saturday and contributed images to the festival’s living archive.

House of Grace played a daytime house set blending Acid, Chicago, Tech, Latin and Garage House. Her set moved bodies and hearts and set a warm opening atmosphere in the garden.

Eva led mindful movement and meditative exercises that offered tangible tools for calm and wellbeing. The session foregrounded accessible somatic practices and supported mental-health-focused presence.

Maja ran a jewellery up-cycling workshop where participants learned to rework old pieces into new designs. Attendees brought their own jewellery and left with renewed pieces and practical upcycling skills.

The panel unpacked how systems fail queer and trans health needs and discussed mental health, hormone access, reproductive justice and medical bias. Speakers shared practical community strategies and called for care-centred health policies and mutual support.

DJ Scissher hosted short rounds of speed-style conversations to help people meet and connect. The session mixed social play with queer matchmaking energy and queer-friendly facilitation.

Noamis performed emotive songs that mixed queer narratives about mental health, queerness and relationships. Their set was intimate and community-focused, offering singalongs and tender catharsis.

Baarbara played a percussive, minimal-electronic DJ set with sensual, rhythmic beats. Her performance carried the afternoon into a groovier, melodic space.

Carla taught traditional Dabke dance, connecting participants to cultural roots through movement and music. The workshop combined cultural education with embodied practice and communal celebration.

Helen guided participants to recycle plastic bags (LDPE/PE-LD) into pencil cases, pouches and other functional objects. Attendees learned sustainable crafting techniques and left with handmade upcycled items.

Ari hosted an open mic focused on the theme “Queer Berlin,” where poets and spoken-word artists performed. The set offered raw, multilingual, intersectional voices and a pulsed community listening space.

This German-language panel examined who tells lesbian* stories and how representation is shaped in film and reality TV. Panelists reflected on narrative politics, visibility, and strategies to break clichés and expand images of lesbian life.

Axelle led a FLINTA*-inclusive kickboxing session that combined technique with empowerment practice. Participants learned basic drills and experienced a structured, supportive physical workout.

VIO and Fede performed tender indie-soul arrangements exploring identity and belonging. Their set blended intimate vocals and guitar into a contemplative garden moment.

DJ Scissher spun house and nu-disco inspired by Chicago house, ballroom culture and sweaty basement raves. Their set transitioned the garden into an energetic, flirtatious evening dancefloor.

Angel ran an arm-wrestling competition with eight sign-up spots and on-stage awards for top finishers. The contest mixed playful strength and pageantry and culminated in a small prize ceremony.

The D-Dur choir performed sapphic and queer pop arrangements, projecting political and joyful harmonies. Their set combined protest energy, community singing, and celebratory choral sound.

Eddy performed ritualized dances and embodied work that mixed erotic performance with transitive storytelling. Their act foregrounded multiplicity, ritual, and a messy, theatrical release of shame.

Diana brought ballroom performance energy and trans-excellence to the stage with charged theatricality. Her act showcased ballroom aesthetics and embodied activism through movement and presentation.

Oriental Sexpress presented a flamboyant, ritual-inflected drag performance that interrogated masculinity. Their act combined swagger, costume and a subversive theatrical exploration of gendered performance.

Naja fused pole, aerial straps and burlesque to create a visceral performance balancing seduction and discomfort. Her piece invited the audience to confront desire and the body’s limits in theatrical form.

Talith (Lilith the Quing) performed character-driven, multidisciplinary storytelling that conjured fever-dream landscapes. Their performance mixed theatricality, dance and persona-driven narratives into a communal spectacle.

Liturgia offered a spicy, ritual-like sermon that fused cathartic confession with kink and decadence. The act reworked religious symbolism through a queer, transgressive lens and provoked strong responses.

Amo Noi presented clownish drag-king lip-syncs and audience interaction, mixing comedy and boylesque. Their set was playful, interactive and included surprise guest bits.

Bethany spun edits across house, amapiano, baile funk and UK garage, driving the crowd toward a charged night set. Her performance carried the Main Stage into late-night energy and club-oriented rhythms.

TAMARR combined punk roots and club production to play bouncy techno, hard groove, pop and electro, including some original productions. Their set closed Saturday with playful intensity and dancefloor catharsis.

The exhibition showcased photographic projects documenting dyke* communities across South America, Asia and the Caribbean. Artists presented bodies of work that provoked reflection on community, memory and cross-cultural practices.

Local queer designers and makers sold upcycled clothing, jewelry and wearable art in a curated market. The market foregrounded sustainable production, queer aesthetics and small-business community support.

Between Dykes recorded with an interactive format focused on queerness, allyship and community questions. Cleo Kempe Towers recorded an episode of Emotional Labor Queen and hosted an anonymous confession booth and ritual elements.

Immy played a broad set tracing disco, house, funk and historical New York dancefloor references. Her set created a healing, storytelling floor that mixed ambient and danceable moments for Sunday morning.

Foxglove performed a moonlit, faerie-like reading that served both children and adult audiences. The reading blended whimsy and gentle spectacle, creating a child-friendly but mesmerizing main-stage moment.

Lula ran a cyanotype workshop teaching participants how to print with sunlight on paper. Attendees printed simple compositions and learned analogue photographic processes.

In connection with our photo exhibition, we'll dive into a journey of dyke* communities in different parts of the world. We'll go to Brazil and Martinique to explore how culture influences queer community building. How do we define community in different contexts? What can we consider universal pillars of community work and which aspects require local adaptations? Through the lens of our panelists, we'll also question who is archiving and documenting our communities and stories.

Participants stitched, patched, and reworked clothing as tender, visible queer resistance and creative repair. The workshop reframed mending as political practice and provided materials and guidance for visible repair.

Seliquere ran a glitter-dusted, rowdy dyke* bingo session full of sass and communal laughs. The bingo show mixed playful scandal and audience participation as an accessible main-stage game.

PLING performed loud, experimental electronic music with looping, drums and vocal textures. Their set was short, intense and sonically exploratory for the Sunday garden slot.

TEZA performed queer-centred indie pop exploring coming out, gender equality and female empowerment. Her concise set blended guitar, electronic elements and emotionally honest songwriting.

Miss T Delight played an energetic, genre-mixing DJ slot focused on vibe and community energy. Her set kept the garden lively with edits and eclectic selections.

Comedians performed queer-centered stand-up and storytelling that combined vulnerability and sharp humor. The hour offered laughter, confessional bits, and a platform for neurodivergent and queer perspectives.

Carla performed songs that transcended cultural boundaries and reflected Syrian-Palestinian roots. Her set explored resilience, identity, and musical hybridity.

Ceci led a workshop on rope techniques for connection, play and consensual practice. The session combined practical rope skills with kink-positive, inclusive framing.

Allesbien ran a fast, messy, fabulous wig-snatching competition with two-player matchups. The event was playful, competitive and a highlight of late-afternoon side-quests.

A collective drag performance with multiple artists presenting lipsync, dance, and character work. It marked the last staged event of the festival.