Ten nights, 40 venues, an audience of millions: Berlin is aglow once more for the Festival of Lights

Berlin, 5 October 2026 The Festival of Lights is one of the capital’s biggest autumn tourist highlights: from 9 to 18 October 2026, the Festival of Lights will once again transform Berlin into a spectacular open-air gallery. Last year, more than three million visitors attended over eight evenings – more than ever before. The festival ensures a particularly strong month for Berlin tourism: in October 2025, around 1.1 million guests visited the capital and spent 2.7 million nights in Berlin’s hotels. This meant that, in terms of overnight stays, October ranked second only to July in a year-on-year comparison.

Even last-minute travellers can still make the most of the 2026 festival for a trip to Berlin: in the first half of the festival, Berlin’s hotels are already well booked, with occupancy rates of up to 85 per cent. For the second festival weekend, there is currently still more hotel capacity available

Sabine Wendt, CEO of visitBerlin: “For ten nights, the whole of Berlin becomes a stage – and that is precisely what makes the Festival of Lights so special. When landmarks and buildings across the city are transformed by light and colour, and millions of people parade through the city together, a unique atmosphere is created. The festival has long been a real highlight of the Berlin autumn and delights visitors and Berliners alike every year. We are delighted to be a partner of this special festival as visitBerlin.”

Under this year’s theme, ‘Colours of Love’, light art, projections and video mapping will showcase Berlin’s landmarks, squares and special buildings at around 40 locations daily from 7 pm to 11 pm. The venues include, amongst others, the Brandenburg Gate, the Victory Column, the Berlin TV Tower and the Radio Tower, Berlin Cathedral, the Oberbaum Bridge, the THF Tower, Potsdamer Platz, the Gendarmenmarkt, the Nikolaiviertel and Museum Island. All open-air attractions are free to visit.

Discover Berlin in its best light
visitBerlin is the official partner of the Festival of Lights and the organiser of the ‘Lightseeing’ programmes. On Berlin’s official travel portal, visitors can book tours and special festival experiences directly and securely. The programme ranges from live-commentated bus tours with photo stops to guided city walks and evening boat trips, right through to combined experiences featuring both a boat trip and a walking tour. The bookable programme highlights also include two special light and sound experiences at Berlin Cathedral: ‘Beyond the Light: Reflections’, running from 9 to 11 October, combines three-dimensional video art with music. From 13 to 17 October, the ‘Festival of Lights in Concert’ blends 3D light art and electronic ambient music into an immersive total work of art. The line-up features music acts such as Alle Farben, Klangkarussell, Westbam, Anja Schneider, Chris Bekker and Ukãi Ndame. For information, tours and tickets, visit visitBerlin.de/en/tickets-festival-of-lights-berlin. 

New this year are the Festival of Lights Club Nights: on selected evenings, the festival will continue in the Berlin clubs PKH Warehouse, Maaya and M-Bia, combining light art, electronic music and Berlin’s club culture. The line-up includes, amongst others, DJs Chris Bekker and Johann de Beers

For the first time this year, visitBerlin is presenting its own projection at the Hotel de Rome. The projection, with the slogan ‘Berlin. Lecker. Yummy.’, invites visitors to discover the capital’s culinary diversity (visitBerlin.de/en/restaurants).

Photos of the Festival of Lights can be found here.