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
2020
January 1: New Year's Day (closures)
Through January 5: Christmas Garden Berlin (light show in Berlin Botanical Gardens; also held in Dresden and Stuttgart)
January 6: Epiphany (Heilige Drei Könige, volunteers dressed as Three Kings go door-to-door caroling and collecting for charity; some closures)
January 24–February 2: CTM Festival, Berlin (electronic / experimental music and art)
January 27: Remembrance Day for the Victims of National Socialism
February 5–20: Montgolfiade Hot-Air Balloon Festival, Lake Tegern (east of Oberammergau, in Bavaria)
February–March: Fasching/Fasnacht (carnival season, balls, parades in the days leading up to Ash Wednesday; Cologne's huge Rosenmontag parade is March 4)
February 20–March 1: Berlin International Film Festival (a.k.a. "Berlinale")
April 3–April 26: Thuringian Bach Weeks, Erfurt
April 10: Good Friday (Karfreitag)
April 10–13: Ostermünde, Travemünde (beach bonfire and other Easter-themed celebrations near Lübeck)
April 11–26: Spring Festival, Nürnberg (rides and costumes in Luitpoldhain park)
April 12–13: Easter Sunday and Monday (Ostersonntag and Ostermontag; closures)
Late April: FestungsLeuchten, Koblenz (sound-and-light show along the Rhine at Ehrenbreitstein fortress; fireworks show on final evening)
April 24–May 10 (likely): Spring Festival, Munich (Frühlingsfestival, the "little sister of Oktoberfest")
May 1: May Day (maypole dances; closures)
May 9–16: Green Sauce Festival, Frankfurt (street music, green-sauce sampling)
May 12–June 12: Dresden Music Festival (classical music performances)
May 20–29: Fressgass' Fest, Frankfurt
May 21: Ascension Day (closures)
Late May–early June: Mozartfest, Würzburg
May 29–June 7: Weindorf wine festival, Würzburg
May 29–June 1: Carnival of Cultures, Berlin (street parade on Sunday)
May 31–June 1: Pentecost (Pfingsten) and Whit Monday (Pfingstmontag; closures)
Early June: Handel Festival, Halle
Early June: Meistertrunk Show, Rothenburg (historic play and market, medieval costumes, Biergarten parties)
June 11: Corpus Christi (Fronleichnam, closures in southern and western Germany)
June 11–21: Bach Festival, Leipzig
June 12–14: Luther's Wedding festival, Wittenberg
June 19–21: Stadtteilfest Bunte Republik Neustadt, Dresden (huge counter-cultural block party celebrating the Outer New Town's tongue-in-cheek status as an independent republic)
Late June–late July: Tollwood Summer Festival, Munich (concert series, art, street theater)
June 26–28: Elbhangfest, Dresden (music, dance, wine)
June 26–28: Oberlindenhock, Freiburg (street food, live music)
July 1–6: Freiburg Wine Festival (local wines, live music)
July 2–6: Classic Open Air, Berlin (music on Gendarmenmarkt)
July 3–19: Kiliani Volksfest, Würzburg (county fair–type folk festival)
July 17–26: Kinderzeche, Dinkelsbühl (traditional dancing, parades)
July 10–26 (weekends): Kaltenberg Knights' Tournament (huge jousting festival, near Munich)
July 17–19: Melt Festival, Gräfenhainichen (electronic music and indie rock, near Wittenberg)
July 17–August 2 (likely): Sommerwerft, Frankfurt (theatre and arts festival)
July 18: Kölner Lichter, Cologne (fireworks and music)
July 18 & 26: Klassik Open Air, Nürnberg (series of free classical concerts and fireworks in Luitpoldhain park)
July 31–August 2: Bardentreffen Nürnberg (world music festival)
August (3 days): International Beer Festival, Berlin
August 12–16: Weindorf wine festival, Rothenburg ob der Tauber
August 15: Assumption (Mariä Himmelfahrt, closures in Bavaria and Saarland)
August 20–24: Sandkerwa Bavarian folk festival, Bamberg
August 21–23 (likely): Museumsuferfest, Frankfurt (music, food, culture)
August 21–September 6: Fall Folk Festival, Nürnberg (rides and costumes in Luitpoldhain park)
August 26–September 4 (likely): Rheingau Wine Festival, Frankfurt
August 27–31: Wine festival, Cochem
September 4–6: Medieval festival, Selb (on the Czech border, northest of Nürnberg)
September 4–6 (likely): Reichsstadt Festival, Rothenburg ob der Tauber (fireworks)
September 9–19 (likely): International Literature Festival Berlin
September 18–October 11 (likely): Berliner Oktoberfest
September 19: Rhine in Flames festival, St. Goar (fireworks; nearby towns on the Rhine host the Rhine in Flames earlier in the year; check online for dates)
September 19–October 4: Oktoberfest, Munich (a.k.a. Wies'n)
September 24–October 3: Filmfest Hamburg
September 25–October 11 (likely): Cannstatter Volksfest (Oktoberfest in Stuttgart)
October 2–12: Wine harvest festival, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse
October 3: German Unity Day (Tag der Deutschen Einheit; closures)
October 7–18 (likely): Berlin Leutchtet (festival of lights)
October 9–11: Onion Market festival, Weimar
October 14–18: Frankfurter Buchmesse (huge book fair and publishers' convention)
October 23–November 8 (weekends; dates likely): Halloween in Frankenstein Castle (near Darmstadt)
October 29–November 1: Jazzfest Berlin
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 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
November 11: St. Martin's Day (Martinstag) and official start to Karneval season (colorful costumes and revelry in Cologne)
November 13–January 6 (likely): Christmas Garden Berlin (light show in Berlin Botanical Gardens; also held in Dresden and Stuttgart)
November 18: Repentance Day (closures in Saxony)
November 24–December 31 (likely): Tollwood Winter Festival, Munich (music, circus, and cultural events performed on Oktoberfest fairgrounds)
December: Christmas markets throughout Germany, particularly in Nürnberg, Munich, Rothenburg, and Freiburg, and Berlin
December 6: St. Nikolaus Day (parades; kids get gifts from St. Nick)
December 24: Christmas Eve (Der Heilige Abend, when Germans celebrate Christmas)
December 25: Christmas Day (closures)
December 26: Boxing Day (closures)
December 31: New Year's Eve (Silvester; fireworks, particularly big in Berlin)