Germany's Top Five

TV images from crisis regions often don't give a full idea of what it's like to live in a refugee camp. To bring the experience closer to residents of the first world, the German wing of the organization Doctors Without Borders has set up a camp replica in Augsburg, Bavaria. With a walk through the exhibit, visitors can get an idea of what the sleeping conditions are like and how water is pumped into the camp. Doctors Without Borders plans stops in Berlin and Münster after the exhibit closes in Augsburg on July 28.

For those ready for some serious Wagnerian tragedy, Tristan and Isolde opens the 94th annual Richard Wagner Festival in the Bavarian city of Bayreuth this year. Of course, tickets might be out of the question. This year, as in every year before it, the Bayreuth Festival, which lasts until Aug. 28, is sold out. The only way to join one of the estimated 60,000 visitors is through Internet ticket agencies like Ticket-finder.com, which offers prices from 310 to 1,200 euros or the black market. The price paid for one of the must-have tickets is likely to be a serious climb from the 192 euros a Wagner festival ticket costs at its most expensive. The festival runs from July 25 to Aug. 28 in a concert hall designed by Wagner himself.

You don't have to go all the way to Buenos Aires to experience the steamy seduction of tango. Tango Pasión, a travelling dance show, is giving Germans from the Rhine city of Düsseldorf a taste of how a hot, sultry Argentine night might go down to the strings of the award-winning Sexteto Mayor orchestra. On stage, dancers choreographed by Hectore Zaraspe perform the south American country's national dance and best-known export. Audiences from the Americas, Australia and Asia have have been swooning over the show since it started in the 1980s. It will play at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein from July 20 to July 31.

Yet another cultural event linked to soccer one year before the World Cup 2006 kicks off in Germany. Beginning on July 28, the Goethe Institute launches an exhibit of the beautiful game as seen through the eyes of Magnum photographers. The celebrated photo agency released photos for the exhibit from legends like Henri Cariter-Bresson and Martin Parr. Not only match shots, but the soccer's role in societies across the world is artfully captured in the 50 photographs on display. The exhibition begins in Frankfurt and stays until Sept. 7. Before it closes at the beginning of next summer's World Cup, it will have traveled through 77 countries.

Not enough racing action after last weekend's F1 Grand Prix in Germany? Well the German Moto GP is just around the corner. From July 29 to the 31 at the Sachsenring near Oberlungwitz more than 60 riders will compete in three different classes of motorbikes. Watching them will be more than 200,000 fans, many of them who prefer motorbike racing over F1 because of the higher frequency of crashes and overtaking manoeuvres.