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
2021
May 1: May Day (maypole dances; closures)
May 13: Ascension Day (Christi Himmelfahrt; closures)
May 14–June 12: Dresden Music Festival (classical music performances)
May 23–24: Pentecost (Pfingsten) and Whit Monday (Pfingstmontag; maypole dancing and flower-bedecked cattle in some rural areas, closures)
May 28–June 6: Weindorf wine festival, Würzburg
May 28–June 13: Handel Festival, Halle
May 28–June 27: Mozartfest centennial, Würzburg
June 3: Corpus Christi (Fronleichnam; processions — particularly in Bavaria, flower carpets — particularly in rural Baden-Württemberg, closures across southern and western Germany)
June 4–5: Elbjazz, Hamburg
June 11–13: Luther's Wedding festival, Wittenberg
June 11–20: Bach Festival, Leipzig
June 18–20: Traumzeit Music Festival, Duisburg (eclectic line-up staged in a former industrial site)
June 18–July 18: Tollwood Summer Festival, Munich (concert series, art, street theater)
June 24–27 & July 1–4: Fusion Festival, Neustrelitz (Burning Man–esque counterculture free-for-all held on the grounds of a former airfield north of Berlin)
June 25–27: Elbhangfest, Dresden (music, dance, wine)
June 30–July 5 (likely): Freiburg Wine Festival (local wines, live music)
July 2–18: Kiliani Volksfest, Würzburg (county fair–type folk festival)
July 4–6: Melt Festival, Gräfenhainichen (electronic music and indie rock, near Wittenberg)
July 15–19: Classic Open Air, Berlin (music on Gendarmenmarkt)
July 16–25: Kinderzeche, Dinkelsbühl (traditional dancing, parades)
July 17 & 25 (likely): Klassik Open Air, Nürnberg (series of free classical concerts and fireworks in Luitpoldhain park)
July 19–25 (weekends): Kaltenberg Knights' Tournament (huge jousting festival, near Munich)
July 23–August 8: Sommerwerft, Frankfurt (theatre and arts festival)
July 24: Berlin Pride (a.k.a. Christopher Street Day Berlin)
July 30–August 1 (dates/event iffy for 2021): Bardentreffen Nürnberg (world music festival)
July 30–September 5 (likely): Nürnberg Summer Days (rides, carnival atmosphere around city)
August (3 days): International Beer Festival, Berlin
August 13–22: Berlin Leutchtet (one of two Berlin festivals featuring light installations on landmark buildings)
August 15: Assumption (Mariä Himmelfahrt; closures in Bavaria and Saarland)
August 15: Carnival of Cultures, Berlin (smaller celebration for 2021)
August 18–22: Weindorf wine festival, Rothenburg ob der Tauber
August 19–23: Sandkerwa Bavarian folk festival, Bamberg
August 26–30: Wine festival, Cochem
August 27–29 (iffy for 2021): Museumsuferfest, Frankfurt (music, food, culture)
September 1–10: Rheingau Wine Festival, Frankfurt
September 3–5: Reichsstadt Festival, Rothenburg ob der Tauber (fireworks)
September 3–11 (likely): Green Sauce Festival, Frankfurt (street music, green-sauce sampling)
September 3–12: Berlin Festival of Lights (one of two Berlin festivals featuring light installations on landmark buildings)
September 4–12: Kieler Woche, Kiel (world's largest sailing festival, featuring historical-ship parades and cultural events in the city center)
September 8–18: International Literature Festival Berlin
September 8–21: Thuringian Bach Weeks, Erfurt
September 10–12: Medieval festival, Selb (on the Czech border, northeast of Nürnberg)
September 10–14 & 17–20: Wurstmarkt, Bad Dürkheim (world's biggest wine festival, near Heidelberg)
September 18 (iffy for 2021): 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 18–October 3: Oktoberfest, Munich (a.k.a. Wies'n)
September 18–October 11 (dates/event iffy for 2021): Berliner Oktoberfest
September 24–October 9 (iffy for 2021): Cannstatter Volksfest (Oktoberfest in Stuttgart)
September 30–October 9: Filmfest Hamburg
October 1–11: Wine harvest festival, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse
October 3: German Unity Day (Tag der Deutschen Einheit; closures)
October 8–10: Onion Market festival, Weimar
October 8–10 (likely): Cologne Pride Street Festival
October 20–24: Frankfurter Buchmesse (huge book fair and publishers' convention)
October 22–November 7 (weekends; dates likely): 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 4–7: 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 17: Repentance Day (closures in Saxony)
November 19–January 16: Christmas Garden Berlin (light show in Berlin Botanical Gardens; also held in Dresden, Cologne, Frankfurt, Hannover, Koblenz, Münster, and Stuttgart)
November 23–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: 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)
2022
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 23–February 1 (likely): CTM Festival, Berlin (electronic / experimental music and art)
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 28)
February 10–20: Berlin International Film Festival (a.k.a. "Berlinale")
Early April: FestungsLeuchten, Koblenz (sound-and-light show along the Rhine at Ehrenbreitstein fortress; fireworks show on final evening)
April 1–April 24 (likely): Thuringian Bach Weeks, Erfurt
April (2 weeks): Spring Festival, Nürnberg (rides and costumes in Luitpoldhain park)
April 15: Good Friday (Karfreitag; closures)
April 16–24 (likely): Montgolfiade Hot-Air Balloon Festival, Lake Tegern (east of Oberammergau, in Bavaria)
April 17–18: Easter (Ostern) Sunday and Monday (closures)
April 22–May 8 (likely): 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 7–8 (likely): Hafengeburtstag (harbor's birthday), Hamburg (giant maritime festival)
May 7–14 (likely): Green Sauce Festival, Frankfurt (street music, green-sauce sampling)
May 13–June 11 (likely): Dresden Music Festival (classical music performances)
May 18–27 (likely): Fressgass' Fest, Frankfurt
May 26: Ascension Day (Christi Himmelfahrt; closures)
May 27–June 5 (likely): Weindorf wine festival, Würzburg
May 27–June 12 (likely): Handel Festival, Halle
Late May–early June: Mozartfest, Würzburg
June 3–4 (likely): Elbjazz, Hamburg
June 3–5: Rock am Ring rock festival, Nürburg (near Koblenz — not to be confused with Nürnberg)
June 3–6: Carnival of Cultures, Berlin (street parade on Sunday)
June 3–6 (likely): Meistertrunk Show, Rothenburg (historic play and market, medieval costumes, Biergarten parties)
June 5–6: Pentecost (Pfingsten) and Whit Monday (Pfingstmontag; maypole dancing and flower-bedecked cattle in some rural areas, closures)
June 10–12 (likely): Luther's Wedding festival, Wittenberg
June 10–19 (likely): Bach Festival, Leipzig
June 16: Corpus Christi (Fronleichnam; processions — particularly in Bavaria, flower carpets — particularly in rural Baden-Württemberg, closures across southern and western Germany)
June 17–19 (likely): 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 17–19 (likely): Traumzeit Music Festival, Duisburg (eclectic line-up staged in a former industrial site)
June 17–July 17 (likely): Tollwood Summer Festival, Munich (concert series, art, street theater)
June 24–26 (likely): Elbhangfest, Dresden (music, dance, wine)
June 24–26 (likely): Oberlindenhock, Freiburg (street food, live music)
July 9: Kölner Lichter, Cologne (fireworks and music)