As soon as Berlin’s asphalt starts to shimmer, only citrus granita, Polish avant-garde, breathable wardrobes, and cool cinemas can help. Here are CC’s calendar tips for a perspiring weekend. The first melting point has been reached today (25.06.2026) at Lark, where Pride Month Berlin (26.06.–25.07.) opens its fifth edition. This year’s motto, “Attitude is hot,” is palpable at the opening: with political impulses, artistic contributions, a queer tombola and plenty of community work to celebrate. We’re in for a hot month. Time for a little cooling magic. At the floral boutique café Witch Garden, Tea & Vinyl gathers on Friday (26.06.), bringing together gongfu teapots and record sets by Deeoxid and others — immersed in a haze of jazz, soul, funk, and disco. From pu-erh to Georgian infusions. Even on the way to Wedding, there’s space to melt away before finding refuge at Sinema Transtopia. On Friday (26.06.), the cinematic experimental space, together with Berlin Asian Film Network, hosts its 9th Community Screening. First there’s grilling and sharing (the potluck BBQ welcomes contributions), followed by two short films under the open sky that explore queer perspectives from the Asian diaspora. You’ll have to walk through hot streets to get there: Streetwise (27.06.–26.09.) opens on Friday (26.06.) at the Deutsches Design Museum. Konstantin Grcic presents his work unfiltered, showing prototypes, discarded ideas, and damaged models — the residue of creative searching. Also on view are works from his label 25kg, moving between experimentation and everyday life. And if you find yourself sweating through Neukölln on Saturday (27.06.), Lobby 030offers a cool retreat: together with Sole, the team celebrates summer in full Bloom.

On the table will be a seasonal menu, cool cocktails and wines, accompanied by flowers and fruit. More precisely: tomato with goat cheese and mint, brioche with mussels and saffron, later something warm with chanterelles and their broth, and figs in good company with ice cream and citrus granita. Gasping slightly, the route continues to Friedrichshain. Saturday (27.06.) leads to Cielo, and from there into the Pizza Fritta Disco Club. That means seafood cuoppo (fried bites in a paper cone), Mediterranean cocktails by guest bartender Maraike, and a soundscape between Italo disco and funk by DJ Haribo. Through the haze of heat, the Polish Art Week has already been shimmering for days. Until Sunday (22.–28.06.), the Avant Art Festival brings concerts, performances, and exhibitions to Berlin, with a focus on contemporary art from Poland. Key venues include Silent Green and Acud for concerts and installations, while Panke Gallery and Arkaoda host electronic and improvised live formats. What still feels missing for the perfect hot weekend is a blazing wardrobe. That might be waiting on Sunday (28.06.–04.07.) at a Schmitd pop-up: limited pieces, recycled materials, airy ajour textures (small openwork patterns in the fabric), and summery colors. Ready to try on, pre-order, or simply cool off beneath the hanging rails. When this week and its heat dissolve, it’s already Wednesday (01.07.), and Cropp Studios invites you to a print sale. An afternoon of drinks, limited prints, artist books, and archival pieces from the studio, alongside works by members and local Berlin artists. A final free tip: on Wednesday (01.07.) at Kantine am Berghain, the second edition of Artist Films on Sub- and Counterculture takes place. Between cool concrete walls, works by Andrew Norman Wilson, Rhea Storr, Sebastian Weise, and Tobias Zielony come together, ranging from a Phil Collins myth to Afrofuturist carnival forms in the Bahamas, and from Kyiv’s techno and subcultures to questions of Berlin’s urban development. A cooling intervention is welcome.

Text: Emma Zylla / Photos: Marie-Lisette, Cropp Studios, Steffen Sinzinger, Lobby 030, Tymek Papior, Urin, Marvin Girbig, Schmitd

Lark Club, Holzmarktstr.15–18, 10179 Berlin–Mitte; map
Pride Month Berlin 26.06.–25.07.2026. Opening 25.06.2026 18h.

@csd.berlin.pride
@lark.berlin

Witch Garden, Torstr.138, 10119 Berlin–Mitte; map
Tea & Vinyl Night 26.06.2026 18–21h. Get tickets here.

@tea.and.vinyl
@witch.garden.flowers

Sinema Transtopia, Lindower Str.20/22/Haus C, 13347 Berlin–Wedding; map 
Community Screening 27.06.2026. Potluck-BBQ 19h30, Open Air Cinema 21h30.

@berlinasianfilm
@sinematranstopia

Deutsches Design Museum, Uhlandstr.185, 10623 Berlin–Charlottenburg; map
Streetwise 27.06.–26.09.2026. Opening 26.06.2026 18–21h.

@deutschesdesignmuseum
@konstantingrcicdesign
@25kg.eu

Lobby 030, Richardstr.76, 12043 Berlin–Neukölln; map
Bloom 27.06.2026 12–22h. Reserve here.

@sole.berlin
@lobby_030

Cielo, Lenbachstr.7, 10245 Berlin–Friedrichshain; map
Pizza Fritta Disco Club 27.06.2026 from 18h.

@cielo_winebar

Polish Art Week
22.–28.06.2026. Find all the locations and the full programme here.

Rosa-Luxemburg-Str.28, 10115 Berlin–Mitte; map
Pop-up, 28.06.–03.07.2026 14–19h, 04.07.2026 11–19h.

@schmitd_

Cropp Studios, Ringbahnstr. 22-30, 12099 Berlin–Tempelhof; map
Print Sale 01.07.2026 17–21h

@croppstudios

Kantine am Berghain, Am Wriezener Bhf, 10243 Berlin–Friedrichshain; map
Screening 2 01.07.2026 from 19h

We like lists that begin with Susan Sontag and end with asparagus. And everything in between is also worth checking out: a palace filled with art, a record store with extended opening hours, and quite possibly the city’s very first fried sando. Here are CC’s Calendar tips to fill your diary. It might just become a new Thursday evening ritual. Today (11.06.), Pastiche launches its first Thursdaze night. The record store will stay open later than usual and become a meeting point with well-stocked vinyl shelves, drinks, and DJ sets by friends of Pastiche. The line-up is still to be announced. From Pastiche to Prinzessinnenstraße: at f³ – Freiraum für Fotografie, the third edition of Berlin Discoveries (09.–14.06.) is on view. Four photographic positions from Berlin offer very different approaches to their present-day city — sometimes intimate, sometimes grounded in urban or social space. And there she is: Susan Sontag — intellectual, glamorous, uncomfortable in the best sense, and unusually autonomous for her time. From Friday (12.06.), Schwules Museum in Sehen und gesehen werden, brings you an exhibition brought from the Bundeskunsthalle Bonn and expanded in Berlin with queer cultural history and Sontag’s recurring stays in the city, featuring contributions by Ulrike Ottinger and Carolin Emcke. Brunch in Berlin comes in many forms, but one has yet to be fully explored: Japanese style. Also opening on Saturday (13.06.), Yume (a small paradise for Japanese sandwiches) opens its sister café Yohaku on Oderberger Straße. Shokupan (fluffy white bread) and quite possibly the city’s first fried sando will be served. At Atelier Culinário in Schöneberg, the evening of 13.06 is titled Pinsa Baby, so gather around the wood-fired oven.

Ina and Ute from Pepper Studio slide pinsas in and out of the oven, topped with whatever is in season. In the glasses: different spritz variations, while Italo disco plays in the background. No reservation needed. Two more “culinary” evenings with guest kitchens will follow in the coming weeks. A detour to Schloss Bellevue? Sounds almost unreal. But from Saturday (13.–28.06.), it’s possible. Just before the building undergoes renovation, the official residence of the German Federal President opens its doors to the public — temporarily transformed into an art hall. Freiraum Kunstis the program by the Akademie der Künste, allowing access until the end of 06.2026. Exhibited are works by members of the Academy, including Monica Bonvicini and Wolfgang Tillmans. If you find yourself drifting through Torstraße on Saturday (13.06.), you might end up in the courtyard of the Suhrkamp Verlag. At the courtyard festival, The Prop Cornerhosts a workshop — the Hamburg Altona-based brand specializes in pop-cultural textile prints in all sizes. On site: notebooks, caps, and other objects that shimmer temptingly. For a different kind of one-of-a-kind, join Sissi Xi Chen‘s Zongzi workshop on Sunday (14.06.). At Lao Xiang, traditional dumplings are filled, folded, and, of course, tasted in celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival. Step by step, the process moves through red bean paste, pork belly, and salted egg yolk. In the end, take home one sweet and one savoury package. Also on Sunday (14.06.), Natura Morta opens its first pop-up in Kreuzberg. The Berlin-based project brings together Italian craftsmanship and textile printing. On display will be the capsule collection “Specie Amiche”, a small reflection on the animals we share our cities (and homes) with. Drinks will be served from the afternoon onwards. If you can keep Monday (15.06.) free, it’s worth heading out of the city: at 1A Gemüse it’s time for a farm visit. On Anja and Thomas Friebel’s fields, it’s all about foil-free cultivated asparagus (green and white) and questions of fair agriculture. Together with Max Scharkowski from Spargelhof Kalkwitz, discussions unfold about how asparagus farming can work without wage dumping and why it thrives so well in Brandenburg soil. The visit ends with a shared tasting straight from the field. The next list arrives next Thursday.

Text: Emma Zylla / Credits: Alexandra Bircken, Trolley II mit Eva; Gregor Schneider, Geburtshaus Goebbels; Juergen Boettcher, Die Mauer; Rokas Jankus / Fotos: Stefan Hirtz, Alessandra Fochesato, Robyn Steffen

Pastiche, Weserstr.46, 12045 Berlin–Neukölln; map
Thursdaze 11.06.2026 18–23h 

@pasticheinternational

F3, Prinzessinnenstr.30/1. Hof, 10969 Berlin–Kreuzberg; map
Berlin Discoveries 09.–14.06.2026 Tu–Su 13–19h

@fhochdrei
@lucia.jost
@alena_schmick

Schwules Museum, Lützowstr.73, 10785–Tiergarten; map
Susan Sontag 12.06.–02.11.2026, opening 11.06.2026 19h

@schwulesmuseum

Yohaku, Oderberger Str.38, 10435 Berlin–Prenzlauer Berg; map
Opening 13.06.2026

@yume_berlin
@yohakuberlin

Schloss Bellevue, Spreeweg 1, 10557 Berlin–Tiergarten; map
Freiraum Kunst 13.–28.06.2026. Mo–Fr 11–19h, Sa–Su 10–19h.

@akademiederkuenste
@bundespraesident.steinmeier

Atelier Culinario, Kyffhäuserstr.21, 10781 Berlin–Schöneberg; map
Pinsa Baby 13.06., 28.06., 19.07.2026

@atelier_culinario
@pepperstudio__

Suhrkamp Verlag, Torstr.44, 10119 Berlin–Mitte; map
Workshop 13.06.2026 12–18h

@suhrkampverlag
@thepropcorner

Lao Xiang, Wichertstr.43, 10439 Berlin–Pankow; map
Zongzi Making Class 14.06.2026 11h and 13h. Register here.

@eatinginberlin
@laoxiang_berlin

Wrangelstr.66, 10997 Berlin–Kreuzberg; map
Natura Marta Pop-up 14.06.2026 from 12h

@naturamorta.insta

1A Gemüse, Schulstr.1a, 15326 Zeschdorf–Döbberin; map
Farm visit 15.06.2026 11–15h. Register here.

@1a_gemuese
@diegemeinschaft
@spargelhof_kalkwitz