Background and History
The goal of the Performing Arts Festival is to present the diversity of the independent performing arts in Berlin and to make them visible within a larger framework as a successor to the 100° Berlin Festival which was held for the last time in February 2015 by Ballhaus Ost, HAU Hebbel am Ufer and Sophiensælen. For twelve years, this festival showcased the incredible range of the independent theater artists and performers in this city. Over 120 productions were presented every year with this platform for the performing arts.
Over the last twelve years, the city of Berlin as well as the independent performing arts community have changed and developed enormously. A vast number of new, international artists and groups have moved to the city and many existing groups have established and professionalized themselves. Numerous new performance venues and locations have opened and the quality as well as quantity of independent productions have increased.
The former performance venues and organizers of the 100° Berlin Festival have decided to pay tribute to this new situation together with LAFT Berlin with the Performing Arts Festival. The goal is to firmly establish the festival with an annual date in the calendars of the Berlin audience as well as the international visiting industry professionals after the 2016 pilot edition.
Initiated by Ballhaus Ost, HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Sophiensælen and Theaterdiscounter and organized by LAFT Berlin, the festival’s schedule of programming has been organized and financed by all of the participating performance venues. Every venue has made its own selection of professional productions created by independent Berlin groups and artists to present.