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Top German festivals 2018
September 20th 2018
By EXPATICA
O’zapft is! With over 10,000 German festivals, Germany offers marvel to everyone from book lovers to beer drinkers. Here are the festivals in Germany that you shouldn't miss in 2018.
O’zapft is! With over 10,000 German festivals, Germany offers marvel to everyone from book lovers to beer drinkers. Here are the festivals in Germany that you shouldn't miss in 2018.
With more than 10,000 German festivals, including some of the world’s biggest and strangest, Germany is certainly a place sagacious souls can appreciate. From the raucous parties of Karneval and German music festivals to the acclaimed Berlinale film festival or the famous German Christmas markets, there are German celebrations for all tastes and ages.
Some of the traditional festivals in Germany include Bayreuth’s Richard Wagner music festival, Munich’s restrained commemoration of beer, Oktoberfest, the world’s largest trade fair for books in Frankfurt and the Munich Opera Festival.
Since the mid-1980s, however, there has been a rapid expansion of new, more niche-market festivals in Germany. Night owls and museum geeks can revel together during Berlin’s Long Night of the Museums, an evening when the city’s museums and cultural institutions stay open into early hours. Fans of avant-garde film can fill their heads with new, esoteric anecdotes at Videonale, Bonn’s German festival for art and experimental videos. Even secret Dungeons and Dragons lovers can find a home at Bavaria’s medieval re-enactment festival Festival-Medieval. This is also alongside a world-class range of German music festivals, some receiving thousands of international visitors.
Whether you’re just visiting Germany or have lived here for a while, attending German festivals can be an easy and exciting way to discover German culture and local German food.
Top festivals in Germany 2018
May–September: Rhein in Flammen
Rhein in Flammen (Rhine in Flames) is a series of spectacular firework displays lighting up the castles and vineyards on the banks of Germany's famous river in different locations in Bonn and St Goar. In 2018, the German festival will have events taking place all over the country starting in May until September. You can view the shows from illuminated boats on the Rhine; ashore there are concerts, fairgrounds, food, drink and many other entertainments. Check the exact dates on their website.
Website: www.rhein-in-flammen.de
May–October: Oberammergau Passion Play
After escaping the bubonic plague back in 1634, the villagers of Oberammergau gave thanks to God by vowing to perform their now world-famous 'Passion Play' every 10 years. Over 400 years later, they continue to do so. Of the 5,300 or so population, around 2,000 are involved in the play, which re-enacts Christ's life leading up to his crucifixion and can last up to eight hours (including a three-hour interval). The next performance will be in 2020, but the Passion Play Theatre is open for tours and other cultural performances in the meantime.
Website: www.passionsspiele-oberammergau.de
September: Festival-Mediaval
The Festival-Mediaval is a living history and re-enactment festival in Selb. The event includes performances of medieval music, fire shows, roaming performers such as witches and beggars, theatre groups and a medieval market. If you've ever had a hankering to try your hand at archery while munching on a medieval snack, then this festival is for you. This year's festival will run from 6 to 9 September 2018.
Website: www.festival-mediaval.com
September: Beethovenfest in Bonn
Each year a grand German music festival is held in the town of Bonn, incorporating concerts, workshops and events in the Beethovenhalle concert hall. International and local visitors descend upon Bonn to hear a number of internationally acclaimed guest articles and orchestras. The next important step is working up to 2020, Beethoven's 250th birthday, when Bonn will play an important role in the German celebrations as Beethoven's birthplace.
Website: www.beethovenfest.de/en
September to early October: Oktoberfest
One of Germany’s most famous festivities and the world’s largest fair, Oktoberfest is a 15-day celebration of Bavarian beer. More than six million people come to drink beer, eat chicken legs and pork sausages and engage in general revelry. Join them from 22 September to 7 October 2018.
Website: www.oktoberfest.de
October: Frankfurt Book Fair
The world's largest trade fair for books dates all the way back to 15th century, when Johannes Gutenberg first invented movable type just a few kilometres away from Frankfurt. Soon after, local booksellers held the first book fair. The Frankfurt fair (Frankfurter Buchmesse) is now primarily for people in the industries surrounding books, although it does have some more layman-accessible events, such as its award for the oddest book title of the year. In 2018, the Frankfurt Book Fair is held 10 to 14 October.
Website: www.book-fair.com
11 November: St Martin’s Day
St Martin’s Day is the feast day of Martin of Tours, who began his life as a Roman soldier and ended up a monk. St Martin’s most famous deed is that he once cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm, thereby saving the beggar’s life. That night, Martin dreamed that the beggar he had helped was Jesus.
On St Martin’s Day, which is celebrated in many areas in Germany, children go from house to house with paper lanterns and candles and sing songs about St Martin in return for treats. Many places also have public festivals to celebrate the saint that include re-enactments of St Martin’s donation of his cloak and the serving of the traditional dish of roast goose, or Martinsgans.
December: Christmas Markets (Weihnachtsmarkts)
Nearly every German city and village sets up a Christmas market during the Advent season. Giving you a reason to brace the cold, visitors can ride a Ferris wheel; browse through the stands selling handicrafts, wooden toys and ceramics; sample the hot mulled wine (glühwein) and hot chestnuts; or just absorb the merry atmosphere. These fairs have proven so popular that other countries have started copying the German-Austrian tradition. Notable Christmas markets are in Berlin, Munich, Nuremberg, Lubeck, Munster, Stuttgart and Heidelberg.