Germany probably has more annual festivals than any other
European country, with almost every village having its own summer
fair, as well as a rich mixture of Christian and pagan festivals
that have merged over the ages to fill the whole calendar.
These tend to flourish most in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and
the Rhineland. In the former GDR, there are far fewer festivals -
Communism is by no means entirely to blame for this, the roots
lying in the puritanism which has long characterized the area.
Since the Wende , a fair number of festivals have been
initiated or reinstated.
The most famous German festival is undoubtedly the
Oktoberfest in Munich, but Carnival and the
Christmas fairs are other annual highlights, and take place
all over the country. There's also a wealth of music
festivals , ranging from opera seasons to open-air jazz and
rock concerts. A general overview of events is listed below.
January is a quiet month, though there are various events
associated with the Carnival season , particularly the
proclamation of the "Carnival King". Climax of the season comes in
February or March , seven weeks before the date
nominated for Easter. The Rhenish Karneval tends to have
rather more gusto than its Bavarian counterpart, known as
Fasching . Cologne has the most spectacular celebrations,
followed by those of Mainz and Düsseldorf; in each case, the
Rosenmontag parade is the highpoint. Baden-Württemberg's
Fastnet is a distinctive, very pagan, carnival tradition,
best experienced in Rottweil. Another old pagan rite is the
Schäfertanz held in Rothenburg in March and repeated on
several subsequent occasions throughout the year. During Holy Week,
and particularly on Easter Day (variable date in
March/April), colourful church services are held throughout the
country, particularly in rural Catholic areas. Another important
April festival is the witches' sabbath of
Walpurgisnacht , celebrated throughout the Harz region on
the 30th of the month.
May marks the start of many of the summer
festivals . Costume plays such as the Rattenfängerspiele
in Hameln begin regular weekend performances, while there are
classical concerts in historic buildings, notably the
Schlosstheater in Schwetzingen. Every ten years (next in 2010), the
famous Passionspiele in Oberammergau begins its run. On a
lighter note, there's the Stabenfest in Nördlingen.
Whitsun (variable date in May/June) sees distinctive
religious festivals in many towns. On the same weekend, there are
two celebrated reconstructions of historic events - the
Meistertrunk drama in Rothenburg and the Kuchen- und
Brunnenfest in Schwäbisch Hall. Shortly afterwards, Corpus
Christi is celebrated in Catholic areas, and is best
experienced in Cologne or Bamberg.
June sees important classical music festivals ,
with the Bach-Woche during the second weekend of the month
in Lüneburg, the Händel-Festspiele in Göttingen and Halle,
the Schumann-Woche in Zwickau and the Europäische
Wochen in Passau, while there's a big festival of all kinds of
music held under canvas in Freiburg. Throughout northern Germany,
the shooting season is marked by Schützenfeste , the largest
being Hannover's. Bad Wimpfen's Talmarkt , which begins at
the end of the month, is a fair which can trace its history back a
thousand years.
July is a particularly busy festival month, with summer
fairs and both wine and beer festivals opening up
every week; pick of the latter is that in Kulmbach. Dinkelsbühl's
Kinderzeche and Ulm's Schwörmontag are the most
famous folklore events at this time. The Bayreuth Opernfest
, exclusively devoted to Wagner, begins its month-long run during
late July, but note that all tickets are put on sale a year in
advance and immediately snapped up. A more wide-ranging
Opernfest takes place in Munich around the same time.
August is the main month for colourful displays of
fireworks and illuminations, such as the Schlossfest in
Heidelberg and Der Rhein in Flammen in Koblenz. There are a
host of Weinfeste during the month in the Rhine-Mosel area,
notably those in Rüdesheim and Mainz, while Straubing's
Gäubodenfest is one of the country's largest beer festivals.
Other important events at this time are the Plärrer city
fair in Augsburg, the Mainfest in Frankfurt and the
Zissel folk festival in Kassel.
Paradoxically, Munich's renowned Oktoberfest actually
takes place mostly in September - it usually starts on the
second last Saturday, but can be the third last. This month sees
many of the most bacchanalian festivals, such as Heilbronn's
Weindorf and Bad Cannstatt's Volksfest .
October sees things quietening down, though there's still
the odd Weinfest in the Rhineland, along with the
Freimarkt folk festival in Bremen, while in the Alpine
region there are a number of religious festivals with an equestrian
component; the Colomansfest in Schwangau is the most famous
of these. In November , there's the month-long Hamburger
Dom fair in Hamburg, while the Martinsfest on the
10th/11th of the month is celebrated in northern Baden and the
Rhineland, most notably in Düsseldorf.
Finally, December is the month of the Christmas market
(variably known as Christkindelsmarkt or
Weihnachtsmarkt ), which features stalls selling handmade
goods of all kinds, from toys and leatherware to sweets and
biscuits. Practically every town in the country has one; the most
enjoyable are those, such as the ones at Nürnberg and Augsburg,
which are most faithful to tradition.