Berlin’s Bearpit Karaoke is an open air singing session in the Mauerpark. And being willing to have a go is more important than talent.
Facing the fear at Bearpit Karaoke
This is an awful time to realise that I don’t actually know the words. In front of me is a thousand-strong crowd, one that has been collectively consuming beer with gusto all afternoon.
They have come for entertainment and, unfortunately, that entertainment is me. For a not even faintly gifted amateur, this is a terrifying prospect.
How Berlin’s Bearpit Karaoke started
Bearpit Karaoke is a very Berlin enterprise. It kicked off in early 2009 when bike courier Joe Hatchiban got hold of a car battery and some speakers. “I already had the cargo bike,” he says. “So I started rolling around town to see if I could get people to sing, and put the videos on YouTube.”
One Sunday afternoon, he rocked up at the Mauerpark – a rather scrappy piece of parkland that runs along where the Berlin Wall used to stand. He saw the weekend flea market, and decided to set up his equipment in the graffiti-strewn amphitheatre built into the side of a hill. A few curious shoppers wandered over for an impromptu singalong.
He came back the next week, and the crowd grew. Since then, providing the weather has held out, Joe’s karaoke bike has been a regular Sunday afternoon fixture in the Mauerpark.
Sunday afternoons in the Mauerpark
The speed with which Germany’s favourite karaoke amphitheatre fills when Joe shows up is astonishing. A smattering of die-hards are there before 3pm in anticipation, but as soon as Joe arrives, there’s a stampede to find a seat.
One chap, clearly the worse for wear, decides that he will just lie down behind the bike for the duration. To his credit, Joe pretends not to notice the snoozing karaoke tramp as a stream of singers brave the bearpit.
Regulars at Bearpit Karaoke
Some are clearly regulars, such as the chap in an ill-fitting suit who shuffles on and belts out a German version of My Way before disappearing with his shopping bags. Others clearly fancy themselves as real singers – the girl from Manchester sassing up 99 Red Balloons has clearly had training.
But the vast majority are just up for a laugh. And the bearpit roars and applauds far louder for the flawed but enthusiastic. One pair show incredible balls by getting up to ‘sing’ Tequila by The Champs. They end up prancing around the stage for three minutes, throwing increasingly silly dance moves and occasionally yelling “TEQUILA!” It’s a masterpiece.
Bearpit Karaoke’s good-natured atmosphere
There’s a tremendous atmosphere; a real community feel infused with a delicious sense of humour and good-natured appreciation of the inherent absurdity.
That feelgood vibe continues right up to the point where I’m on the stage, staring at a legion of people who’ve been buying beers off the enterprising salesmen for the last two hours. The cosy happiness turns to outright fear. Particularly when I realise that, unlike normal karaoke, the lyrics will not be in front of me.
Volume + Showmanship
There’s only one way to go: full-on, no holds barred prank monkey. As the opening bars of Whitesnake’s Here I Go Again blast out of the speakers, I prepare to sacrifice pitch, subtlety and correct lyrics on the altar of volume and showmanship. They don’t care if I hit the note; they just want me to go for it at full power.
I launch into a shamelessly exhibitionist display of primeval roaring, camp strutting, air guitars and desperate arm whirling. The crowd claps along and cheers, getting behind the bellowing incompetent served up to them. It feels incredible; what should be a thoroughly humiliating experience leaves me beaming as I skulk off. Joe has created a monster – but an utterly loveable one.
This article was originally written for National Geographic Traveller UK.
More Berlin travel
Other Berlin travel articles on Planet Whitley include:
- The best time to visit the DDR Museum in Berlin.
- Canoeing along the Berlin Wall.
- The Berlin to Munich train.
- How to get cheap Hamburg to Berlin train tickets.
- A guide to West Berlin for first time visitors.
- Is it realistic to do a Berlin to Prague day trip by train?
For more Berlin tour and experience options, head this way.