Berlin Hosted the Second Newcomer Festival on November 27th

The main event (the Bazaar of Styles and Skills) took place from 10:00 to 18:00 and provided space for refugees and initiatives to present themselves. There was some food tables and market stands allowing cultural and personal exchange between the visitors and organizers.

Some of the organisations were more focused on the cultural and knowledge exchange mentioned above, such as Teachsurfing, who are frequently organizing workshops and talks. So far they have supported over 30 newcomers to offer Arabic and Farsi language workshops and cultural talks to Berliners, who have offered in exchange photography, painting, web development, and German culture talks. They are planning to gradually increase the amount of workshops to further facilitate interaction between refugees and locals, and the Newcomer Festival Berlin provided a great opportunity for them to become better known.

This was just one of the many great organizations present that day: Refugee Academy, the Open Art Shelter and Pass the Crayon, an art workshop working with refugee children in Berlin, but also Afrika-in-Berlin, an improvisation theater group, and much more from braiding hair to preparing food, from games to legal advice.

At 19:00 the “Newcomer Cabaret” was held, with different performances from professional and non-professional artists in a cabaret format – musicians, dancers, rappers, and more.

A small donation was requested upon entry, and the entire proceeds are going to be given directly to the newcomer participants of the festival and organizations that support them.

An interesting and enriching Sunday afternoon was had by all!