“We try to bring together artists who wouldn’t necessarily share the stage normally. Those are usually the most interesting evenings.” That’s Regina Borovaya, founding member of the young Berlin collective behind Paradise Must Be Nice, on how the lineup gets built. The 2026 edition runs June 11–13 and puts that approach to work across three nights and three venues: Zwingli-Kirche, Gedächtniskirche on Breitscheidplatz, and Neue Zukunft near Ostkreuz.
This is the festival’s second edition, following a 2025 inaugural run with Abdullah Miniawy, Dis Fig, and Rauchen. Alongside the three concert nights, there’s a FLINTA* workshop on experimental sound design in cooperation with Studio Ziegra. The program runs under the tagline “connection in (dis)comfort,” covering experimental music, ambient, noise, punk, and performance.
Thursday, June 11 — Zwingli-Kirche, 7:30 pm
The opening takes over the historic Zwingli-Kirche and treats the nave’s reverb as an instrument. London-based French violinist and singer Vanessa Bedoret starts the evening with intimate, cinematic compositions.
Boomkat described her debut album “Eyes” as “a timeless bouquet of ecstasy and ballads, garnished with piercing strings and shatterproof electronics.”
Rosaceae — the music project of Berlin visual artist Leyla Yenirce — follows, joined by performance artist and musician Solomon Garçon.
Together they work through noise, ambient, and vocal improvisation to trace military and cultural structures of dominance.
Friday, June 12 — Gedächtniskirche, 7:30 pm
Night two moves to Gedächtniskirche on Breitscheidplatz and leans into the intersection of sacred and experimental.
Berlin-based Czech composer Petra Hermanova presents her solo debut “In Death’s Eyes” fully orchestrated on a German stage for the first time, joined by organist Sebastian Heindl and the chamber choir Ensemble Memoria.
Her work pulls folk and sacred traditions into a meditation on loss.
Swedish composers Maria W Horn and Mats Erlandsson bring “The Spectral Organ,” an ongoing site-specific project examining the ritual framework of Western European religious music through field recordings and sustained synthetic sound, working with non-traditional harmonies, intervals, and electronic processing.
Saturday, June 13 — Neue Zukunft, 6:30 pm
The closer at Neue Zukunft near Ostkreuz runs across two rooms.
In the Garage, Gini SNC weaves immersive soundscapes and Gertie Adelaido brings ADHD-core.
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Bitchmaterial opens the theater with noise-punk, followed by Kryk paying homage to black metal with furious riffs. After an intermission, Cavid Dhen folds saxophone into improvised electronics, Emme translates hardcore techno and noise into theatrical performance, and the Post-Club-Noise-Duo Prison Religion digs into excess.
Xenia Reaper builds cryptic ambient out of breakbeat before Slikback closes the night with a high-energy live set blending deconstructed club and noise.
The collective behind Paradise Must Be Nice also advocates for affordable tickets, with discounts for young people and those facing financial hardship.
Full program at paradisemustbenice.de.
