Badetal - experimental bathing festival

Curation & Sauna Designs 2023

collaboration: Popticum & Badetal Collective    

Inspired by centuries-old bathing traditions, we understand bathing as a cultural practice that connects people across social and cultural boundaries.

Therefore, our group of sauna enthusiasts organized the third edition of Badetal in 2023 — a festival dedicated to bathing and sweating cultures.

For one day, we transformed a site in Berlin into an experimental landscape of saunas, hot baths, concert stages, workshop spaces, and culinary experiences. More than a typical wellness oasis, the festival explored sauna culture as a social and cultural practice.

Eleven different saunas—ranging from self-built structures to installations by invited collectives—offered diverse bathing experiences inspired by traditions from around the world. Throughout the day, visitors could take part in workshops, build their own sauna huts, join sound meditation sessions, experience performances, attend literary sauna rituals, enjoy traditional bathing in a Japanese onsen, or sing together in the karaoke sauna—all within a relaxed and intimate atmosphere.