Germany

As part of the European effort to bring free live music to every corner of the continent, Berlin hosts the Fete de la Musique each June together with towns in over 100 other countries.Summer is launched with a bang with the help of a huge variety of live concerts on approximately 60 venues around Berlin.In accordance with the principles of the European Music Festival, the event takes place every year on June 21st to mark the onset of summer.The aim of the festival is to enhance public participation in live music events, so it is always free and generally held at outdoor public venues. These can include churches, boats, railway stations and swimming pools.In Berlin some of the more well-known venues to host performances include the Hosue of World Cultures and the Volksbuhne.Amateurs and professionals are given the chance to showcase their talents at the celebration free of charge.The event also takes part in cities such as Paris, Naples, Budapest and Barcelona.

What lies beneath the surface of objects? Artist Sabine Gross tries to discover whether it is discord or harmony in a series of displays that make up Excavation Chic in Berlin.She is exhibiting until October 18th at the Magnus Muller Gallery.Gross has won several awards for her work and taken part in many large exhibitions, including Deep Storage, The Big Nothing and the 10th Triennial of Sculpture.She received the Dorothea-von-Erxleben grant to teach sculpture for two years at the Academy of Visual Arts in Brunswick last year.The Magnus Muller Gallery is one of the many attractions of Berlin; other must-sees include the Brandenburg Gate.Brandenburg Gate is synonymous with Germany and used to be a trading post between both sides of the city.The East Side Gallery gives visitors a glimpse of important moments in Germany's history, documenting the fall of the Berlin Wall in an open air exhibition.Some of the wall still remains in this display.Excavation Chic is close to cheap hotels in Berlin and good transport links. It is open between 12:00 and 18:00, local time, from Tuesday to Saturday. Today Berlin is considered one of the most fashionable places to live in terms of art, culture and thought.The capital is home to 153 museums and 50 theatres.

Gay and lesbian revelers flock to Berlin each June for its fantastic annual festival, which operates under the slogan "equal rights for the unequal". Over 30,000 lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders congregate at Europe's largest festival of this type, this year celebrating its 15th birthday.Held in Nollendorfplatz in Schoneberg, the area where the event takes place is spread over 25,00 sq m, packed with number of exhibits, booths, market stalls and places to buy food.Additionally, the weekend celebration boasts 500 metres of bars in its beer garden and cocktail lounge.The 'wild sofa' on the main stage will feature prominent journalists Gerhard Hoffmann and Biggy van Blond as they interview a range of guests from German politics and culture. This venue will also host rock and pop music.Further performances take place in five venues and will feature house and techno music, hits of the 70s and 80s and lesbian and gay entertainers and DJs.Germany hosts a number of events for the gay and lesbian community, including Verzaubert Queer Film Festival and Hamburg, Cologne and Dresden Pride.

Travel News brought to you by Eurobookings, the experts in cheap hotel bookings for all major European cities including Berlin.Want to see what the most expensive sound system in the world looks like? HiFi magazine plans to show it to visitors to one of Europe's biggest events for buyers and sellers of consumer electronics in Berlin. The International Funkausstellung attracts thousands of exhibitors each year. A total of 1,212 from 32 countries attended last year, recording €2.75 billion (£2.17 billion) in orders.Among them was Swiss company, Xounts, which plans to wow the crowd again this year with a massive pyramid of designer speakers.In 2007, a total of 222,780 visitors went to the expo. Coming along this year has been made even easier thanks to a special partnership between organisers and air and train companies.The highlight of the event is Europe's largest technology contest, which features alongside an exhibition of satnavs for mobile phones and a workshop about how to take easy photos.Tickets to the event, which will be held at the Messes in Berlin from August 29th to September 3rd, are €10 (£7.89) a day. Opening hours are from 10.00 to 18.00, local time.Use the IFA online catalogue - Virtual Market Place - to search for exhibitors and products at the official expo website.©CopyrightReady for the holidays? Browse cheap hotels in Berlin.