Mauerpark Karaoke

It's Sunday in Germany, which means it's time to head out with the family and go for long aimless walks and eat ice cream. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But, here in Berlin, people aren't interested in that sort of good, clean fun. Instead, they grab a couple of Sternburg Export beers, head to Mauerpark and go shopping for old World War Two gas masks.

We've talked about Mauerpark before here at Euroblog - but that was in winter. In high summer is when it really shows its true colours. The place becomes a magnet for every coolio north of Alexanderplatz (the people in Kreuzberg have their own flea markets thank you very much). But can Kreuzberg offer this sort of pulling power???

You see, Mauerpark has now added an extra string to its bow - it's called Bearpit Karaoke. Run by Joe Hatchiban, a bike courier from Dublin who now lives in Berlin, this local cult event started on a Sunday way back in February 2009. The idea is simple: if you provide a laptop full of karaoke songs, two speakers and a very odd eastern-bloc amphitheater, the people will come. And it's going from strength to strength, crowds of 1500 to 2000 people are now regularly on hand to watch their neighbours embarrass themselves with a version of their favourite song. Only in Berlin.