Festival Application FAQs

When is the festival?
September 16th – 20th, 2026

What are we looking for?
Das Improv Festival aims to showcase high-quality comedic improv. Our focus lies on both grounded and game-based long form improv comedy (including long form musical improv). So, if your show is mostly short-form or theatre sport this might not be the right fit for you. Still, we encourage everyone to apply!

What’s the deadline for submissions?
May 30th. We make decisions on a rolling-basis and encourage you to apply as early as possible, particularly if you’re an international team.

When will you hear back from us?
Latest by July 1st July 15th. Please don’t email us before, we will write to everyone who applied.

Where is the festival taking place?
Comedy Café Berlin (Roseggerstraße 17, 12059 Berlin) will be the main venue for shows and events. Ida Nowhere (Donaustraße 79, 12059 Berlin), just down the street, will be used for shows on several nights of the festival. Workshops will take place at CCB Studios (Hasenheide 12, 10967 Berlin). All venues are wheelchair accessible.

Do you offer financial support to visiting teams?
In some cases. In order to help create a truly international festival, we strongly encourage teams from outside Europe, the U.S. and Canada to apply. To that end, teams from outside Europe, the U.S. and Canada who are accepted into the festival will be eligible to apply for a small grant set aside to help with travel and accommodation costs.

What language are the shows and workshops in?
All events will take place in English.

I want to teach a workshop, can I?
We are not accepting applications for instructors.

How are performances organised?
We will have hour-long performance blocks with two groups, each performing 25-minute sets. If you are accepted to the festival we will pair you up with another group that we think is a good fit.

Can I apply to perform without a team?
You can apply as a solo performer if you’d like to perform a solo set, but we will not be featuring “mixer teams”. If you’d like to attend the festival without a team, we will be hosting a (very fun) jam which will give you an opportunity to get on stage without a team.

Can we play on a specific day?
Unfortunately not – scheduling 30 teams over 4 days is very difficult and we won’t be able to honor requests for performances on a specific day. We expect teams that apply to be available for the duration of the festival.

What kind of tech do you provide?
We can play specific walk-on music and we can do black-outs on the lights. Beyond that, we can’t make any promises. If you have a tech-heavy show (music and/or light cues, etc) we ask you to modify that for the Festival. With over 50 teams performing, we simply don’t have the ability to provide much beyond the basics.
Musical improv teams will need to provide their own musician! We have a keyboard with pedal and weighted keys available.

Accepted teams will receive an email from us asking for tech needs before the festival. Any specific requests will need to be provided to us before the festival; last minute requests won’t be able to be honored, so please make sure you communicate any tech needs with us ahead of time!

Will there be a discount for performing teams for the festival?
Yes, if you get accepted to the festival all members of your team will be eligible to purchase a discounted festival pass, which will also include plenty of fun goodies. Purchasing a pass is not required to perform at the festival.
Performers will also get early bird registration for workshops.

Is there an application fee?
No. We don’t charge any fees, including for accepted teams.

Will I get free entry to shows?
Any performer without a festival pass will get free rush entry to shows at the festival (e.g. only if there are any seats available after pass holders and ticket holders are seated). Please be aware that the majority of our shows sell out! Performers may purchase a discounted festival pass that will get them entry to any show at the festival.

When does registration for workshops open?
We typically open workshop registration in August. Follow us on social media or subscribe to our mailing list to be the first to know!

Does the festival have a code of conduct?
Yes! We take safety seriously, you can read the code of conduct here.

Do you have logos I can use for social media?
Yes! Visit our Downloads page. The only thing we ask is to keep the colors and aspect ratios as they are and don’t to forget to mention @dasimprovfest on Instagram.

Any more questions about applications? Write a nice email to programming[at]dasimprovfestival.com and we will get back to you as soon as possible (please give us at least 3–5 days).