Berlin

===Nightlife and festivals===
[[File:20150208 - Berlinale Palast and Red Carpet.JPG|thumb|The [[Berlinale]] is the world´s largest international spectator film festival.]]

Berlin's nightlife has been celebrated as one of the most diverse and vibrant of its kind.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/losing-your-mind-in-berlin/Content?oid=2180018|title=Losing your mind in Berlin|first=Walter|last=Wasacz|website=[[Metro Times]]|date=11 October 2004|access-date=18 November 2006|archive-date=10 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910010712/https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/losing-your-mind-in-berlin/Content?oid=2180018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.decodedmagazine.com/berlin-berlin-city-sin-city-never-sleeps-better-yet-never-sleep/|title=Berlin, Berlin, the city of sin. The city that never sleeps, or better yet, where you never have to sleep.|date=5 January 2017|publisher=Decoded Magazine|access-date=14 February 2022|archive-date=6 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206084058/https://www.decodedmagazine.com/berlin-berlin-city-sin-city-never-sleeps-better-yet-never-sleep/|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 1970s and 80s, the [[SO36]] in [[Kreuzberg]] was a center for [[punk music]] and culture. The ''SOUND'' and the ''Dschungel'' gained notoriety. Throughout the 1990s, people in their 20s from all over the world, particularly those in [[Western Europe|Western]] and Central Europe, made Berlin's club scene a premier nightlife venue. After the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]] in 1989, many historic buildings in Mitte, the former city center of East Berlin, were illegally occupied and re-built by young squatters and became a fertile ground for underground and [[counterculture]] gatherings.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Art of Now – Berlin's Nightlife – BBC Sounds|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000j1j7|access-date=6 July 2020|website=BBC|language=en-GB|archive-date=6 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200706225511/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000j1j7|url-status=live}}</ref> The central boroughs are home to many nightclubs, including the Watergate, [[Tresor (club)|Tresor]] and [[Berghain]]. The [[KitKatClub]] and several other locations are known for their sexually uninhibited parties.

Clubs are not required to close at a fixed time during the weekends, and many parties last well into the morning or even all weekend. The ''Weekend Club'' near [[Alexanderplatz]] features a roof terrace that allows partying at night. Several venues have become a popular stage for the [[Neo-Burlesque]] scene.

[[File:Festival of Lights 2012 - Französischer Dom.jpg|thumb|right|The [[French Cathedral, Berlin|French Cathedral]] during the annual [[Festival of Lights (Berlin)|Festival of Lights]] ]]
[[File:Hanukkah, Brandenburg Gate (Berlin).jpg|thumb|[[Hanukkah]] festival at the Brandenburg Gate]]
Berlin has a long history of gay culture, and is an important [[Scientific-Humanitarian Committee|birthplace of the LGBT rights movement]]. Same-sex bars and dance halls operated freely as early as the 1880s, and the first gay magazine, ''Der Eigene'', started in 1896. By the 1920s, gays and lesbians had an unprecedented visibility.<ref name="Krauss">{{cite book|last=Krauss|first=Kenneth|title=The drama of fallen France: reading la comédie sans tickets |year=2004|publisher=State University of New York |location=Albany, NY |isbn=978-0-7914-5953-9 |page=11}}</ref><ref name="The New Yorker">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/01/26/berlin-story |title=Berlin Story – The New Yorker |first=Alex |last=Ross |date=26 January 2015 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]]  |access-date=6 June 2016 |archive-date=20 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420134154/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/01/26/berlin-story |url-status=live }}</ref> Today, in addition to a positive atmosphere in the wider club scene, the city again has a huge number of queer clubs and festivals. The most famous and largest are [[Berlin Pride]], the [[Christopher Street Day]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.berlin-tourist-information.de/english/zielgruppen/e_zg_gay_bezirke.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061007101504/https://www.berlin-tourist-information.de/english/zielgruppen/e_zg_gay_bezirke.php |archive-date=7 October 2006 |title=Berlin for Gays and Lesbians |date=7 October 2006 |access-date=7 April 2012}}</ref> the [[Lesbian and Gay City Festival]] in Berlin-Schöneberg, the [[Kreuzberg Pride]] and [[Hustlaball]].

The annual [[Berlin International Film Festival]] (Berlinale) with around 500,000 admissions is considered to be the largest publicly attended film festival in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.europeanfilmacademy.org/ |title=European Film Academy |publisher=European Film Academy |access-date=7 April 2012 |archive-date=25 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120525004720/http://www.europeanfilmacademy.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.berlinale.de/ |title=Berlin Film Festival |publisher=Berlinale.de |access-date=7 April 2012 |archive-date=17 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110217150238/https://www.berlinale.de/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Karneval der Kulturen (''Carnival of Cultures''), a multi-ethnic street parade, is celebrated every [[Pentecost]] weekend.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.karneval-berlin.de/de/english.175.html |title=English Summary |publisher=Karneval-berlin.de |access-date=7 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419112335/https://www.karneval-berlin.de/de/english.175.html |archive-date=19 April 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Berlin is also well known for the cultural festival [[Berliner Festspiele]], which includes the jazz festival [[JazzFest Berlin]], and [[Young Euro Classic]], the largest international festival of [[youth orchestra]]s in the world. Several technology and media art festivals and conferences are held in the city, including [[Transmediale]] and [[Chaos Communication Congress]]. The annual [[Berlin Festival]] focuses on indie rock, electronic music and synthpop and is part of the International Berlin Music Week.<ref>[https://www.berlinfestival.de/en.html Berlin Festival] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150314234453/https://www.berlinfestival.de/en.html |date=14 March 2015}} website</ref><ref>[https://www.berlin-music-week.de/en/ Berlin Music Week] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140410203724/https://www.berlin-music-week.de/en/ |date=10 April 2014 }} website</ref> Every year Berlin hosts one of the largest New Year's Eve celebrations in the world, attended by well over a million people. The focal point is the Brandenburg Gate, where midnight fireworks are centered, but various private fireworks displays take place throughout the entire city. Partygoers in Germany often toast the New Year with a glass of [[Sekt|sparkling wine]].