AMANDA SANDSTRÖM BEIJER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Something that many of Playful’s interviews have in common, is how Berlin inspired them creatively. In this issue Dr. Rubenstein explains that she had no clue how to DJ and people told her several times that she’s not gonna make it in Berlin where there’s so many talents – look at her today. Patrick Mason moved here to study Graphic Design. Today he does whatever he finds appealing, interesting and fun – and he does it wholeheartedly.

Many of us experience a change when moving to Berlin – a city where the creatives are supported with less tax, where clubs don’t close at 3pm, and where you see street art everywhere, amazing restaurants along the streets, where people can be themselves without worrying if someone photographed them in a club and where events are lame unless they are filled with performers.

This pandemic time hits hard on events and artists who often don’t get the credit they deserve even in better times, After all it’s the events and performers that bring energy to a city; like rings on water they inspire people to do more – to give more. The creative scene supports tourism, and city officials can only ask themselves how much taxes the clubs brought to the city last year? Berlin is a Start-up hub and I dare say, that this would not have been the case without the artists, performers, restaurants and events.

I talked to my friend Scotty The Blue Bunny on the phone, and he, very accurately explained that Lufthansa got bailed out by Berlin for €9 Billion, and he asked, what did Scotty the Blue Bunny get? What did the performers, the restaurants, the events, the artists get?

Scotty puts on his mask and his bunny suit and marches together with Berlin artists in the “Protestmarsch der Kulturschaffenden” – group for participating artists, and even if his money doesn’t cover his apartment bill for the moment, he still visits venues where he plans on doing an orchestra event where people can dress up, listen to violin and cello, where people can get inspired and renew their energy so that they can continue doing what they love and contributing to the Berlin that inspires us to share, to give, to do more for each other.

”We need to stay positive and we need to continue inspiring each other and to do what we love,” he says.

No matter how many fans you have on your Facebook page, how many people are watching your DJ streaming, or if you’re scared to bits by sharing what you love doing with others – please continue. Berlin needs you more than ever. Hopefully they will see that we can do this without Lufthansa, but we can’t do this without the creatives.