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Berlin Unveils Free Brandenburger Tor Party as ARD Confirms Midnight Cut and ZDF Moves New Year’s Show to Hamburg

Funding cuts shifted ZDF’s production to Hamburg, prompting Berlin to stage a lower-cost, city-run celebration at the Gate.

Overview

  • ARD said it will switch live to the Brandenburger Tor fireworks for seven to eight minutes at midnight, with rbb handling the Berlin feed before the program returns to Munich.
  • Berlin’s event will be free but ticketed for about 20,000 people, with entry from 9:30 p.m. and a DJ-led party running 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. along Straße des 17. Juni to Yitzhak-Rabin-Straße.
  • Free tickets are slated to be released starting in early December, according to Mayor Kai Wegner, as the city caps attendance for safety.
  • City officials said the Berlin party is funded with €300,000 from four Senatsverwaltungen and €290,000 from the Lottostiftung, with security checks, bag inspections, and bans on glass and personal pyrotechnics in place.
  • ZDF’s new Hamburg show, ‘Silvester in Concert,’ will host about 12,000 on a floating stage in HafenCity with hosts Andrea Kiewel and Johannes B. Kerner and acts including Johannes Oerding, Ayliva, Wanda, Blue, ATC, Ace of Base, T-Seven, and others, with standard tickets priced at €49 and early-bird passes sold out.