By now, you have likely heard about WHOLE Festival. The gathering has grown larger each year, expanding its reach while holding onto what made it distinct in the first place. For its eighth edition, WHOLE returns to Ferropolis from July 17 to 20, 2026, the monumental iron city just outside Berlin. The former industrial mining site transforms each summer into one of the world’s most distinctive gatherings of queer nightlife culture, a three-day convergence of music, performance and community.
WHOLE operates less like a traditional festival and more like a temporary world: a place where dancefloors, bodies and collective joy reshape the landscape for a few fleeting days. The theme for 2026 is Enter The Whole. Less spectacle, more presence. Less escape, more connection. The concept frames the festival as a portal, a deliberate step from the outside world into a shared space built on care, participation and queer freedom. Entering WHOLE means arriving fully: with attention, openness and responsibility toward each other.
Visually, the theme pushes WHOLE’s signature collage universe further: hyperpop surrealism, post-internet maximalism, Y2K futurism and absurdist pop aesthetics collide into a vibrant visual language that moves between past queer cultures and futures still being imagined.
Across six stages (Arena, Beach, Crane, Forest, Ambient and Performance) WHOLE 2026 brings together a global constellation of artists from house, techno, bass music, experimental electronics and performance. The Performance stage lineup will be announced later.
Forest stage features 2THEMAX, Alirio, Byron Yeates, CEB, Citizens Union, Cormac, Cora, DIRTY DADDY DON, DJ Fuckoff, fka.m4a, HAAi, KEMIK, KVKN, Laure Croft, Lola Edo, Lovefoxy, Makadsi, MIKITA, Natuta, PARFAIT, Phat Paris, Sara Dziri, SCHACKE, SHERELLE, Smoothie Boiz, Spikey Lee, S-candalo, Tati Magik, Tedesco, TWANG and ValaV. Arena stage brings Amoral, Beste Hira, BOTOX FATAL, CEM, Clarissa Kimskii, D.Dan, Freddy K, Hyperaktivist, Juliana Huxtable, Khloe, Léa Occhi, Lolsnake, MCMLXXXV, Miss Kittin, Nazira, NSPERGER, DANIELA FUZZ, LEONOR BAESLER, KATALINA SCHWARZ, SARA, CATARSIS ABSOLUTA, Olivia Mendez, Quelza, RAKANS, BASHKKA, VALENTINA SPIRITO, Boyca and DJ LOUI DE JUPITER4. Beach stage hosts Adam Munnings, Budino, Chloe Caillet, Dgeral, Sparkly Pony, James Lotion, DJ Petite, Frederik Tollund, Intention Circle, Gabrielle Kwarteng, Gerd Janson, Hard Ton, HOLY LOLLY, ISAbella, Jacob Meehan, Jeffrey Sfire, Julie Desire, Kabolum, ketia, Lakuti, Lucky Lube, Mars 010c, Massimiliano Pagliara, Octo Octa, OK Williams, Omoloko, Roza Terenzi, Rumi de Baires, Selma, Stacey Hotwaxx Hale and Tama Sumo. Crane stage features Acidnena, Armana Khan, Authentically Plastic, Balerands, Cais Niara, Cyberkills, DJ Ciana, DJ TRINDADE, Isa GT, Katy da Voz e as Abusadas, Lazy Rosario, Linapary, Mina Galán, M8NSE, Memphy, Ms Nina, NET GALA, Nsasi, Pvssy Divx, Sausha and Vicx. Ambient stage hosts ābnamā, ALEX HAWTHORN, aantz, Bounce Kisses, Boyfriend Dick, Chuda, Di Linh, DUALITY DJ, Erika, Eva van Dijk, AV Freya, JAYE Ward, JETCONCEPT, JPTALAPIAN, Kate Bush by Jeffrey Sfire, Therapy, Majdolen, Maryisonacid, The Soft Archive, Sāda, coloray, Saint Guel, source:link and SXCL.
The 2026 edition brings together crews from across the global queer underground, including PERVERT from Mexico City, Eau de Cologne from Tbilisi, NOT YOUR TECHNO from Brussels, Cuddles from Berlin, SEXTOU from London, Bung L0n from Saigon, 999 Ciclo from Buenos Aires, Fiesta Dame from Santiago, Group Therapy from Copenhagen, Anti-Mass from Kampala, ZVUK from Almaty, MARICAS from Barcelona, along with TRACEY, SWEAT, Kinky Sundays, LATINEO, Puticlub, Pornceptual, Cocktail d’Amore, Herrensauna, Gegen and many more.
Beyond the music, WHOLE expands its talks, workshops and community spaces, opening conversations around intimacy, queer care, collective organizing, embodiment and pleasure. The full talks program will be announced soon. The Cruising Village expands into a constellation of distinct spaces, shaped in collaboration with invited artists, collectives and crews who bring their own visions of intimacy, play and care. Alongside a dedicated pansexual area and FLINTA-focused spaces, the village introduces a new format of hosted slots, programmed moments where communities can curate their own encounters, from guided explorations of cruising culture to connection rituals and sober-curious activations.
Photos by Redouane Cherkaoui @redorblueone
WHOLE continues its commitment to accessibility and community participation. Community Tickets, with 50 percent reserved for FLINTA participants, have already sold out. The Solidarity Program returns to provide free access to those most affected by systemic inequalities, prioritizing refugees, Black and POC folks, trans and gender-expansive people, people with disabilities, and others whose bodies are marginalized or excluded. The festival also invites participants through its Open Call for Volunteers.
More info HERE!
