The first weekend of September belongs to tipBerlin's Frizzante, the iconic Italian Food Festival that returns on September 5th and 6th in a brand new location in the courtyard at Friedrichstraße 112b, known as the backyard that once housed the legendary King Size Bar. This weekend it will be converted into a temporary Italian piazza - and you are invited!
This year's edition is billed as "The Aperitivo Edition", which means this is not about sit-down dinners but the spritz-and-small-plates vibe we all love, drawn out over a long afternoon that has no particular reason to end.
Importers and merchants will set up a market styled after a harbour village on the Amalfi Coast, with producers and winemakers from Sicily to South Tyrol pouring and selling their best bottles (tastings actively encouraged). Among them is 13 Grad, the young outfit around Giacomo Mannucci of To the Bone, which has been bringing artisanal Italian wineries to Berlin. The city's finest Italian kitchens handle the food, with pasta, pizza and seafood plus a run of dinners hosted at the restaurants themselves ahead of the festival. Espresso, Wine, Drinks and a soundtrack that moves from "Volare" to Italo disco fill in the rest, with live music running into the night.
WHEN, WHERE AND HOW MUCH? Doors open at noon on both days and entry is €12 (BUY TICKETS HERE). Oranienburger Tor on the U6 is the closest stop, with the M1 and M5 trams and the S-Bahn at Oranienburger Straße a short walk away.
The festival closes with the True Italian Awards 2026 on Sunday at 6 pm in the Ballroom at Fotografiska Berlin, where a 24-member jury of journalists and industry people picks winners across 16 categories, from Pasta Restaurant to Best Pizza.