Upcoming Holidays and Festivals in Germany
- Before planning a trip around a festival, verify the festival dates on the festival's website or with a local tourist information office. For more information about these and other events, visit the official tourism site for Germany.
- This list includes major festivals in major cities, plus national holidays observed throughout Germany. Many sights and banks close down on national holidays — keep it in mind when planning your itinerary. Note that this isn't a complete list; holidays can strike without warning.
- See upcoming holidays and festivals across Europe
2023
January 1: New Year's Day (closures)
January 6: Epiphany (Heilige Drei Könige, volunteers dressed as Three Kings go door-to-door caroling and collecting for charity; some closures)
January 27–February 5: CTM Festival, Berlin (electronic / experimental music and art)
January 29–February 5: Montgolfiade Hot-Air Balloon Festival, Lake Tegern (east of Oberammergau, in Bavaria)
February–March: Fasching/Fastnacht/Karneval, primarily in southern regions and Cologne (carnival season — parties and parades in the days leading up to Ash Wednesday; Cologne's huge Rosenmontag parade is February 20)
February 16–26: Berlin International Film Festival (a.k.a. "Berlinale")
March 31–April 23: Thuringian Bach Weeks, Erfurt
Early April: FestungsLeuchten, Koblenz (sound-and-light show along the Rhine at Ehrenbreitstein fortress; fireworks show on final evening)
April 7: Good Friday (Karfreitag; closures)
April 8–23: Spring Festival, Nürnberg (rides and costumes in Luitpoldhain park)
April 9–10: Easter (Ostern) Sunday and Monday (closures)
April 21–May 7: Spring Festival, Munich (Frühlingsfestival, the "little sister of Oktoberfest")
May 1: May Day (maypole dances in rural areas, labor demonstrations and street festivals in Berlin's Kreuzberg district, closures)
May 5–7: Hafengeburtstag (harbor's birthday), Hamburg (giant maritime festival)
May 6: Rhine in Flames festival, Bonn (fireworks; nearby Rhine towns host Rhine in Flames later in the year)
May 6–13 (likely): Green Sauce Festival, Frankfurt (street music, green-sauce sampling)
May 17–26: Fressgass' Fest, Frankfurt
May 18: Ascension Day (Christi Himmelfahrt; closures)
May 18–June 18: Dresden Music Festival (classical music performances)
May 26–June 4: Weindorf wine festival, Würzburg
May 26–June 11: Handel Festival, Halle
May 26–29 (likely): Carnival of Cultures, Berlin (street parade on Sunday)
May 26–29 (likely): Meistertrunk Show, Rothenburg (historic play and market, medieval costumes, Biergarten parties)
May 28 & 29: Pentecost (Pfingsten) and Whit Monday (Pfingstmontag; maypole dancing and flower-bedecked cattle in some rural areas, closures)
June 2–4: Rock am Ring rock festival, Nürburg (near Koblenz — not to be confused with Nürnberg)
June 2–July 2: Mozartfest, Würzburg
June 8: Corpus Christi (Fronleichnam; processions — particularly in Bavaria, flower carpets — particularly in rural Baden-Württemberg, closures across southern and western Germany)
June 8–11: Melt Festival, Gräfenhainichen (electronic music and indie rock, near Wittenberg)
June 8–18: Bach Festival, Leipzig
June 9–10: Elbjazz, Hamburg
June 9–11: Luther's Wedding festival, Wittenberg
June 16–July 16: Tollwood Summer Festival, Munich (concert series, art, street theater)
Mid-June (3 days): Stadtteilfest Bunte Republik Neustadt, Dresden (huge counter-cultural block party celebrating the Outer New Town's tongue-in-cheek status as an independent republic)
June 16–18: Traumzeit Music Festival, Duisburg (eclectic line-up staged in a former industrial site)
June 17–25: Kieler Woche, Kiel (world's largest sailing festival, featuring historical-ship parades and cultural events in the city center)
June 23–25: Elbhangfest, Dresden (music, dance, wine)
Late June (3 days): Oberlindenhock, Freiburg (street food, live music)
June 28–July 2: Fusion Festival, Neustrelitz (Burning Man–esque counterculture free-for-all held on the grounds of a former airfield north of Berlin)
June 30–July 16: Kiliani Volksfest, Würzburg (county fair–type folk festival)
July 1: Rhine in Flames festival, Bingen / Rüdesheim (fireworks)
July 6–11: Freiburg Wine Festival (local wines, live music)
July 7–July 9: Cologne Pride Street Festival
July 14–23: Kinderzeche, Dinkelsbühl (traditional dancing, parades)
July 14–30 (weekends): Kaltenberg Knights' Tournament (huge jousting festival, near Munich)
July 15: Kölner Lichter, Cologne (fireworks and music)
July 21–23: Bardentreffen Nürnberg (world music festival)
July 21–August 6 (likely): Sommerwerft, Frankfurt (theatre and arts festival)
July 22 (likely): Berlin Pride (a.k.a. Christopher Street Day Berlin)
July 30 & August 5: Klassik Open Air, Nürnberg (series of free classical concerts and fireworks in Luitpoldhain park)
August 12: Rhine in Flames festival, Koblenz (fireworks)
August 15: Assumption (Mariä Himmelfahrt; closures in Bavaria and Saarland)
August 16–20: Weindorf wine festival, Rothenburg ob der Tauber
August 18–19: Potsdamer Schössernacht (Potsdam's palaces lit up, nighttime performances in the gardens, midnight fireworks over Sanssouci both nights)
August 24–28: Sandkerwa Bavarian folk festival, Bamberg
August 24–28: Wine festival, Cochem
August 25–27: Museumsuferfest, Frankfurt (music, food, culture)
August 25–September 10: Nürnberg Fall Folk Festival (costumes, rides in Luitpoldhain park)
August 26: Long Night of Museums, Berlin (most museums open until 2 a.m., with one-off installations and performances)
August 30–September 8: Rheingau Wine Festival, Frankfurt
September 1–3: Reichsstadt Festival, Rothenburg ob der Tauber (fireworks)
September 1–10 (likely): Berlin Beer Week
September 6–15: Berlin Festival of Lights (light installations on landmark buildings)
September 6–16: International Literature Festival Berlin
September 7–10: Medieval festival, Selb (on the Czech border, northeast of Nürnberg)
September 8–12 & 15–19: Wurstmarkt, Bad Dürkheim (world's biggest wine festival, near Heidelberg)
September 9: Rhine in Flames festival, Oberwesel (fireworks)
September 16: Rhine in Flames festival, St. Goar (fireworks)
September 16–October 3: Oktoberfest, Munich (a.k.a. Wies'n)
Mid-September–early October: Berliner Oktoberfest
September 22–October 8: Cannstatter Volksfest (Oktoberfest in Stuttgart)
September 28–October 7 (likely): Filmfest Hamburg
September 29–October 9: Wine harvest festival, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse
October 3: German Unity Day (Tag der Deutschen Einheit; closures)
October 13–15: Onion Market festival, Weimar
October 18–22: Frankfurter Buchmesse (huge book fair and publishers' convention)
October 20–November 3: Halloween in Frankenstein Castle (near Darmstadt)
October 31: Reformation Day celebration, Wittenberg (and closures in some Protestant areas)
November 1: All Saints' Day (Allerheiligen, closures in southern and western Germany)
November 2–5: Jazzfest Berlin
November 6: Leonhardifahrt, Bad Tölz (traditional Bavarian religious procession in spa town south of Munich)
November 9: Night of Broken Glass Remembrance Day; anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (remembrances, but no closures)
November 11: Martinstag (St. Martin's Day) and official start to Karneval season (colorful costumes and revelry in Cologne)
November 15–January 14, 2024 (likely): Christmas Garden Berlin (light show in Berlin Botanical Gardens; also held over similar dates in Dresden, Cologne, Frankfurt, Hannover, Koblenz, Mainau Island on Lake Constance, Münster, and Stuttgart)
November 22: Repentance Day (closures in Saxony)
November 23–December 31 (but closed Nov 26 for Totensonntag): Tollwood Winter Festival, Munich (music, circus, and cultural events performed on Oktoberfest fairgrounds, plus Christmas market until December 23)
December: Christmas markets throughout Germany, particularly in Nürnberg, Munich, Rothenburg, and Freiburg, and Berlin
December 6: Nikolaustag (St. Nicholas Day; St. Nick, often with companion in tow, often seen around town on evening prior)
December 24: Christmas Eve (Der Heilige Abend; Germans decorate trees and open presents, shops close at noon)
December 25: Christmas Day (closures)
December 26: Boxing Day (closures)
December 31: New Year's Eve (Silvester; fireworks, particularly big in Berlin)