SLOW TRAVEL BERLIN
Berlin Music Week, various venues, until 7 September
Berlin Music Week—otherwise known as BMW—is back for the fourth year in a row, and not only will the five-day musical celebration offer many of the same events it has become well-known for over the past few years, but there are also some new additions in the mix.
Things will kick off on Sept. 3 with the WORD! conference catering to music professionals such as label employees, journalists, bookers and promotors, as well as musicians. The event, held at Postbahnhof, features two full days of lectures, panels and workshops, with themes ranging from diversity and startups to the ever-changing music scene and new technologies accompanying it. A pre-hack day workshop will also take place on Sept. 4 as a predecessor to the two-day Music Hack Day taking place on the weekend.
Complimenting the WORD! half of things is SOUND! It begins on the afternoon of Sept. 4, when First We Take The Streets hosts an open-air musical celebration between Postbahnhof and the East Side Gallery. Musicians who have previously applied and been selected will play these stages, with Berlin-based Mighty Oaks headlining the entire event on the main stage across from O2 World.
First We Take Berlin also returns, with free admission (first come, first served) to those with festival wristbands. These showcases consist of more than 100 artists and will take place at 15 clubs throughout the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district along the Spree. Then, on Sept. 5, theBerlin Festival returns, this time moving from Tempelhof to the Berlin Arena for 48 non-stop hours of music.
But that’s not all: the Berliner Pilsner Music Award, VIA! VUT Indie Awards and the New Music Award will be given to promising and accomplished musicians, with live performances and juries on Sept. 3, 5 and 7, respectively, and BMW will also play host to an Independent Label Market, the Auf den Dächern Festival, and the Die Neuen Deutschpoeten showcase before finally winding down on Sunday evening. Natalye Childress
Events, venues and admissions vary — check the above links for full programme details