Berlin for sport and music – Hertha at the Olympic Stadium, concerts, Fête de la Musique and New Year’s Eve

While living in Berlin, I didn’t just go sightseeing – I also went to football matches, concerts and city festivals. In this post I’ve gathered the events I attended between 2019 and 2023: Hertha BSC matches at the Olympic Stadium, metal concerts, the summer festivals Fête de la Musique and the Carnival of Cultures, and New Year’s Eve in Berlin. I’ve described the Christmas markets and the Festival of Lights in separate posts.

Table of contents

1. Hertha BSC at the Olympic Stadium
2. Concerts
3. Summer festivals – the Carnival of Cultures and Fête de la Musique
4. New Year’s Eve in Berlin
5. Practical information

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Hertha BSC at the Olympic Stadium

Hertha BSC plays at the Olympic Stadium (Olympiastadion), built for the 1936 Olympic Games. Two tall towers with the Olympic rings stand in front of the entrance. The stadium holds over 74,000 spectators, so even with several tens of thousands of fans some seats stay empty.

I went to Hertha matches several times. In May 2019 Hertha lost 1:5 to Bayer Leverkusen, and on 22 February 2020 they lost as much as 0:5 to 1. FC Köln, in front of over 46,000 spectators (after 40 minutes the scoreboard already showed 0:3).

Finally, on 25 February 2023, I saw a win – Hertha beat FC Augsburg 2:0 in front of about 40,000 fans. At half-time it was still 0:0.

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Concerts

My first big concert in Berlin was on 20 November 2019 at the Columbiahalle – Alter Bridge, Shinedown and The Raven Age played. On 1 February 2020, just before the pandemic, I was at the Velodrom for Sum 41 and Zebrahead – a standing ticket cost €42.

Almost every band that tours Europe plays in Berlin. In autumn 2022 I went to several concerts in a row. In November I went with Patrycja to see Powerwolf – not an ordinary concert, but a big show with fire effects, huge animations and great contact between the band and the audience. The main support act was the English band DragonForce, with arcade machines on stage. A few days later I went on my own to a smaller club to see the Finnish Finntroll and the Icelandic Skálmöld – after the concert I even exchanged a few words with two members of the band.

On 23 October 2022 I went to the Columbia Theater to see the French band Skáld, who play music inspired by old Scandinavian songs – with drums, horns and lyres on stage.

On 13 January 2023 I went with Artur to the Verti Music Hall to see Architects and Northlane, and in February – on my own – to Bullet For My Valentine, Atreyu and Jinjer.

Apart from big concerts, Berlin is famous for its clubs. In October 2022 I went, among others, to the Duncker club in Prenzlauer Berg – a rock and metal disco.

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Summer festivals – the Carnival of Cultures and Fête de la Musique

In June 2019 I went to the Carnival of Cultures (Karneval der Kulturen) – a festival of cultures from all over the world, with food stalls from different countries, concerts and a parade. In the evenings bands played on the stages in the park.

Every year on 21 June the Fête de la Musique takes place – free concerts are played all over the city, in squares, in parks and in front of clubs. In 2022 I came across a stage on a square where you could listen to bands until the evening, sitting at tables and in deckchairs.

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New Year’s Eve in Berlin

In Berlin, fireworks are set off on New Year’s Eve on almost every street, and the sky over the city stays lit up for a long time after midnight. At the turn of 2019 and 2020 I watched them from a rooftop, from where you could see fireworks above the tenement buildings, and a year later – during the pandemic – I walked around the neighbourhood, where fireworks were set off despite the restrictions.

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Practical information

• Hertha tickets: best bought in the club’s official shop. The S-Bahn (Olympiastadion station) and the U2 underground line go to the stadium.
• Concerts: big concerts take place at venues such as the Uber Arena, Verti Music Hall, Velodrom and Columbiahalle. Tickets for popular tours sell out quickly.

• Fête de la Musique: always on 21 June, free entry; the programme of the stages is published on the festival website a few weeks in advance.
• New Year’s Eve: the biggest party takes place at the Brandenburg Gate, with checks at the entrance – but you can see fireworks all over the city.
• More of Berlin: Christmas markets, Festival of Lights and Berlin: what to see.

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