TL;DR. Berlin’s tech calendar is anchored by four flagships: IFA (4–8 Sep, ~220k visitors, consumer electronics) [1], re:publica (18–20 May, 1,000+ speakers, digital society) [2], WeAreDevelopers World Congress (8–10 Jul, 15k+ devs) [3], and Bosch ConnectedWorld (10–11 Jun, AI/IoT/mobility) [4]. For the 29–31 May 2026 weekend the marquee IT shows are quiet — re:publica wrapped 20 May [2] and Tech Open Air opens 2 Jun [5]. What’s actually on those dates: Berlin Design Week’s closing days [6] plus the one-day Applied AI Conference on 28 May [7].
Flagship conferences
| Event | Dates 2026 | Venue | Size | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IFA Berlin | 4–8 Sep | Messe Berlin (Funkturm) | ~220k visitors, 1,900 exhibitors | Consumer electronics, smart home, IoT — Europe’s largest CE fair [1] |
| re:publica 26 | 18–20 May | STATION Berlin (Kreuzberg) | 1,000+ speakers, 20+ stages | Digital society, internet culture, policy [2] |
| WeAreDevelopers World Congress | 8–10 Jul | Messe Berlin South + CityCube | 15k+ builders, 500+ speakers, 40k m² expo | Developer-first: AI tooling, platforms, DX [3] |
| Bosch ConnectedWorld 26 | 10–11 Jun | Tempodrom + Arena Berlin | Enterprise scale | AI, IoT, mobility, industrial software [4] |
| GITEX AI Europe | 30 Jun–1 Jul | Messe Berlin | 2,500 exhibitors, 1,500 startups | AI, deep tech, startup expo (2nd Berlin edition) [8] |
Specialist & developer conferences
| Event | Dates 2026 | Venue | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| DMEA | 21–23 Apr | Messe Berlin | Digital health — 600 exhibitors, 11k+ visitors, 91% decision-makers [9] |
| Rise of AI Conference | 5–6 May | Humboldt Carré | Executive AI: strategy, regulation, trust & safety; ~300 in-person + virtual [10] |
| Tech Open Air (TOA) | 2–5 Jun | Colosseum + satellites | Festival format: AI, climate, Web3, health tech [5] |
| Berlin Buzzwords | 7–9 Jun | Kulturbrauerei | Search, ML, open-source data infrastructure [11] |
| Bosch ConnectedWorld | 10–11 Jun | Tempodrom + Arena | (see flagships) [4] |
| GopherCon Europe | 15–18 Jun | Festsaal Kreuzberg | Go: talks (15–16), workshops (17), HeyAI Summit + Community Day (18) [12] |
| DevOpsCon Berlin | 15–19 Jun | Maritim proArte | DevOps / SRE / cloud-native [13] |
| IT Security Summit | 15–19 Jun | Maritim proArte | DevSecOps, cloud / API / AI security (co-located w/ DevOpsCon) [14] |
| Greentech Festival | 23–25 Jun | Messe Berlin | Climate tech, sustainability [15] |
| Quantum Summit Berlin | 22–23 Sep | (Berlin, tbc) | Quantum computing — research, hardware, applications [18] |
| droidcon Berlin | 7–9 Oct | CityCube Berlin | Android / mobile development [16] |
| Smart Country Convention | 13–15 Oct | Messe Berlin | GovTech, public-sector digitization [17] |
On the ground 29–31 May 2026
Quiet weekend for the tier-1 IT shows — re:publica wrapped on 20 May [2]; Tech Open Air opens 2 Jun [5]. What’s actually on:
- Berlin Design Week (28–31 May, overlapping the whole weekend) — theme DESIGN REAL, 100+ participants across 90+ locations, 15k+ visitors; includes digital-design tracks. The Berlin Format conference runs 28 May; the Design Pool fair runs 30–31 May at PLATTE.BERLIN [6].
- Applied AI Conference Berlin (Thu 28 May, one day) — community-driven, real-world applied ML; arrive a day early to catch it [7].
- Deep Tech Momentum (20–21 May, week prior) — robotics, AI, energy, space, advanced materials; missed for this weekend but worth a note [7].
If anchoring the trip on tech rather than dinner, shifting one week (5–7 Jun) catches TOA [5]; two weeks (12–14 Jun) catches Bosch CW + Berlin Buzzwords [4] [11].
Recurring meetups & community scenes
- Tech in Berlin Meetup — 10k+ members; cross-disciplinary AI / Web3 / data / product events, near-weekly cadence [19].
- Disruption Network Lab — interdisciplinary conferences + community meetups on tech-and-society / whistleblowing; next conference Exposing Crimes is Not a Crime runs 19–22 Mar 2026 [20].
- Berlin AI Developers Group — drop-in if a session lands on your dates.
Living calendars (keep fresh)
- dev.events Berlin — 67+ tech conferences scheduled for 2026, filterable [21].
- Berlin.de trade-fair calendar — official city listings, includes booth detail [18].