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
Mid-November–mid-January 2024: Christmas Garden (light show held in gardens and parks in many cities, including Berlin, Dresden, Hamburg, Leipzig, and Mainau Island on Lake Constance)
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)
2024
January 1: New Year's Day (closures)
Through mid-January: Christmas Garden light shows in Berlin, Dresden, Cologne, Frankfurt, Hannover, Koblenz, Münster, Stuttgart
January 6: Epiphany (Heilige Drei Könige, volunteers dressed as Three Kings go door-to-door caroling and collecting for charity; some closures)
January 26–February 4: CTM Festival, Berlin (electronic / experimental music and art)
January 28–February 4: 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 12)
February 15–25: Berlin International Film Festival (a.k.a. "Berlinale")
March 21–April 14: Thuringian Bach Weeks, Erfurt
March 29: Good Friday (Karfreitag; closures)
March 30–April 14: Spring Festival, Nürnberg (rides and costumes in Luitpoldhain park)
March 31 & April 1: Easter (Ostern) Sunday and Monday (closures)
April 19–May 5: 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 4: Rhine in Flames festival, Bonn (fireworks; nearby Rhine towns host Rhine in Flames later in the year)
May 9: Ascension Day (Christi Himmelfahrt; closures)
May 9–12: Hafengeburtstag (harbor's birthday), Hamburg (giant maritime festival)
May 9–June 9: Dresden Music Festival (classical music performances)
May 11–18: Green Sauce Festival, Frankfurt (street music, green-sauce sampling)
May 15–24 (likely): Fressgass' Fest, Frankfurt
May 17–20: Carnival of Cultures, Berlin (street parade on Sunday)
May 17–20: Meistertrunk Show, Rothenburg (historic play and market, medieval costumes, Biergarten parties)
May 19 & 20: Pentecost (Pfingsten) and Whit Monday (Pfingstmontag; maypole dancing and flower-bedecked cattle in some rural areas, closures)
May 24–June 9: Handel Festival, Halle
May 24–June 23: Mozartfest, Würzburg
May 29–June 9: Weindorf wine festival, Würzburg
May 30: Corpus Christi (Fronleichnam; processions — particularly in Bavaria, flower carpets — particularly in rural Baden-Württemberg, closures across southern and western Germany)
June 7–8: Elbjazz, Hamburg
June 7–9: Rock am Ring rock festival, Nürburg (near Koblenz — not to be confused with Nürnberg)
June 7–16: Bach Festival, Leipzig
June 11–13: Melt Festival, Gräfenhainichen (electronic music and indie rock, near Wittenberg)
June 14–16: Luther's Wedding festival, Wittenberg
June 14–July 14 (likely): Tollwood Summer Festival, Munich (concert series, art, street theater)
Mid-June (3 days; iffy): 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 21–23: Traumzeit Music Festival, Duisburg (eclectic line-up staged in a former industrial site)
June 21–23 (likely): Oberlindenhock, Freiburg (street food, live music)
June 22–30: Kieler Woche, Kiel (world's largest sailing festival, featuring historical-ship parades and cultural events in the city center)
June 26–30: Fusion Festival, Neustrelitz (Burning Man–esque counterculture free-for-all held on the grounds of a former airfield north of Berlin)
June 28–30: Elbhangfest, Dresden (music, dance, wine)
July 4–9 (likely): Freiburg Wine Festival (local wines, live music)
July 5–21: Kiliani Volksfest, Würzburg (county fair–type folk festival)
July 6: Rhine in Flames festival, Bingen / Rüdesheim (fireworks)
July 12–21: Kinderzeche, Dinkelsbühl (traditional dancing, parades)
Weekends July 12–28: Kaltenberg Knights' Tournament (huge jousting festival, near Munich)
July 19–July 21: Cologne Pride Street Festival
July 26–August 11: Sommerwerft, Frankfurt (theatre and arts festival)
July 26–28: Bardentreffen Nürnberg (world music festival)
July 27: Berlin Pride (a.k.a. Christopher Street Day Berlin)
July 28 & August 3 (likely): Klassik Open Air, Nürnberg (series of free classical concerts and fireworks in Luitpoldhain park)
August 9–10: Potsdamer Schössernacht (Potsdam's palaces lit up, nighttime performances in the gardens, midnight fireworks over Sanssouci both nights)
August 10: Rhine in Flames festival, Koblenz (fireworks)
August 14–18: Weindorf wine festival, Rothenburg ob der Tauber
August 15: Assumption (Mariä Himmelfahrt; closures in Bavaria and Saarland)
August 22–24 (likely): Castle Beats, St. Goar (EDM concert series at Rheinfels Castle)
August 22–26: Sandkerwa Bavarian folk festival, Bamberg
August 22–26: Wine festival, Cochem
August 23–25 (likely): Museumsuferfest, Frankfurt (music, food, culture)
August 23–September 8 (likely): Nürnberg Fall Folk Festival (costumes, rides in Luitpoldhain park)
August 24: Long Night of Museums, Berlin (most museums open until 2 a.m., with one-off installations and performances)
August 28–September 6 (likely): Rheingau Wine Festival, Frankfurt
August 30–September 8 (likely): Berlin Beer Week
September 5–14: International Literature Festival Berlin
September 6–8: Reichsstadt Festival, Rothenburg ob der Tauber (extra big in 2024 for 750th anniversary, with events held throughout the year)
September 6–8: Medieval festival, Selb (on the Czech border, northeast of Nürnberg)
September 6–10 & 13–16: Wurstmarkt, Bad Dürkheim (world's biggest wine festival, near Heidelberg)
September 14: Rhine in Flames festival, Oberwesel (fireworks)
September 21: Rhine in Flames festival, St. Goar (fireworks)
September 21–October 6: Oktoberfest, Munich (a.k.a. Wies'n)
Mid-September–early October: Berliner Oktoberfest
September 26–October 5 (likely): Filmfest Hamburg
September 27–October 13: Cannstatter Volksfest (Oktoberfest in Stuttgart)
September 27–October 7 (likely): Wine harvest festival, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse
October 3: German Unity Day (Tag der Deutschen Einheit; closures)
October 4–13 (likely): Berlin Festival of Lights (light installations on landmark buildings)
October 11–13: Onion Market festival, Weimar
October 16–20: Frankfurter Buchmesse (huge book fair and publishers' convention)
October 18–November 1 (likely): Frankenstein Halloween, Königstein Castle (southeast of Dresden)
October 30–November 3: 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 (remembrances, but no closures)
November 11: Martinstag (St. Martin's Day) and official start to Karneval season (colorful costumes and revelry in Cologne)
Mid-November–mid-January 2025: Christmas Garden (light show held in gardens and parks in many cities, including Berlin, Dresden, Hamburg, Leipzig, and Mainau Island on Lake Constance)
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)