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
2018
April 20–May 6: Spring Festival, Munich (Frühlingsfestival, the "little sister of Oktoberfest")
May 1: May Day (maypole dances; closures)
May 2–13: Munich International Documentary Film Festival
May 10: Ascension Day (closures)
May 10–June 10: Dresden Music Festival (classical music performances)
May 12–19: Green Sauce Festival, Frankfurt (street music, green-sauce sampling)
May 18–21: Meistertrunk Show, Rothenburg (historic play and market, medieval costumes, Biergarten parties)
May 18–21: Carnival of Cultures, Berlin (street parade on Sunday)
May 20–21: Pentecost (Pfingsten) and Whit Monday (Pfingstmontag; closures)
May 23–June 1: Fressgass' Fest, Frankfurt
May 25–June 3: Weindorf wine festival, Würzburg
May 25–June 10: Handel Festival, Halle
May 25–June 24: Mozartfest, Würzburg
May 31: Corpus Christi (Fronleichnam, closures in southern and western Germany)
June 8–10: Luther's Wedding festival, Wittenberg
June 8–17: Bach Festival, Leipzig
June 15–17: 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 22–24: Elbhangfest, Dresden (music, dance, wine)
June 27–July 22: Tollwood Summer Festival, Munich (concert series, art, street theater)
June 29–July 1: Oberlindenhock, Freiburg (street food, live music)
July 5–9: Classic Open Air, Berlin (music on Gendarmenmarkt)
July 5–10: Freiburg Wine Festival (local wines, live music)
July 6–22: Kiliani Volksfest, Würzburg (county fair–type folk festival)
July 13–15: Melt Festival, Gräfenhainichen (electronic music and indie rock, near Wittenberg)
July 13–22: Kinderzeche, Dinkelsbühl (traditional dancing, parades)
July 13–15 & 20–22 & 27–29: Kaltenberg Knights' Tournament (huge jousting festival, near Munich)
July 21: Kölner Lichter, Cologne (fireworks and music)
July 22: Klassik Open Air, Nürnberg (series of free classical concerts and fireworks in Luitpoldhain park)
July 20–August 5: Sommerwerft, Frankfurt (theatre and arts festival)
July 26–30 (likely): Schlossbergfest, Freiburg (music festival on Schlossberg hill)
July 27–29: Bardentreffen Nürnberg (world music festival)
August 3–5: International Beer Festival, Berlin
August 4: Klassik Open Air, Nürnberg (series of free classical concerts and firewords in Luitpoldhain park)
August 15: Assumption (Mariä Himmelfahrt, closures in Bavaria and Saarland)
August 15–19: Weindorf wine festival, Rothenburg ob der Tauber
August 23–27: Wine festival, Cochem; Sandkerwa Bavarian folk festival, Bamberg
August 24–26: Museumsuferfest, Frankfurt (music, food, culture)
August 24–September 9: Fall Folk Festival, Nürnberg (rides and costumes in Luitpoldhain park)
August 29–September 7: Rheingau Wine Festival, Frankfurt
August 31–November 4: Ludwigsburg (Baden-Württemberg) Pumpkin Festival
Early September (3 days): Reichsstadt Festival, Rothenburg ob der Tauber (fireworks)
September 5–15: International Literature Festival Berlin
September 6–9: Medieval festival, Selb (on the Czech border, northest of Nürnberg)
September 15: 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 21–October 14: Berliner Oktoberfest
September 22–October 7: Oktoberfest, Munich (a.k.a. Wies'n)
September 27–October 6: Filmfest Hamburg
September 28–October 14: Cannstatter Volksfest (Oktoberfest in Stuttgart)
September 28–October 14: Berlin Leutchtet (festival of lights)
October 2–15: Wine harvest festival, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse
October 3: German Unity Day (Tag der Deutschen Einheit; closures)
October 10–14: Frankfurter Buchmesse (huge book fair and publishers' convention)
October 12–14: Onion Market festival, Weimar
October 19–November 4 (weekends): 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 1–4: 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
November 11: St. Martin's Day (Martinstag) and official start to Karneval season (colorful costumes and revelry in Cologne)
November 15–January 6 (likely): Christmas Garden Berlin (light show in Berlin Botanical Gardens)
November 21: Repentance Day (closures in Saxony)
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 Christmas Garden Berlin (light show in Berlin Botanical Gardens)
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)
2019
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)
Through early January: Christmas Garden Berlin (light show in Berlin Botanical Gardens)
January 25–February 3: CTM Festival, Berlin (electronic / experimental music and art)
January 25–February 3 (likely): Montgolfiade Hot-Air Balloon Festival, Lake Tegern (east of Oberammergau, in Bavaria)
January 27: Remembrance Day for the Victims of National Socialism
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 7–17: Berlin International Film Festival (a.k.a. "Berlinale")
March 20–April 14 (likely): Thuringian Bach Weeks, Erfurt
April 5–7 (likely): FestungsLeuchten, Koblenz (sound-and-light show along the Rhine at Ehrenbreitstein fortress; fireworks show on final evening)
April 19: Good Friday (Karfreitag)
April 19–May 5 (likely): Spring Festival, Munich (Frühlingsfestival, the "little sister of Oktoberfest")
April 20–22: Ostermünde, Travemünde (beach bonfire and other Easter-themed celebrations near Lübeck)
April 20–May 12: Spring Festival, Nürnberg (rides and costumes in Luitpoldhain park)
April 21–22: Easter Sunday and Monday (Ostersonntag and Ostermontag; closures)
May 1: May Day (maypole dances; closures)
May 30: Ascension Day (closures)